Teen arrested in south Nashville double slaying

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Thursday, 05/11/06

Teen arrested in south Nashville double slaying

By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF
Staff Writer


Metro police today arrested Jose Presentacion Sosa, 16, on charges that he killed a mother and daughter in their south Nashville home.

Sosa, a former neighbor, is charged with two counts of homicide for the April 25 slayings of Lori Ann Rountree, 44, and her daughter, Adrien, 16.

Police said the bodies were found at the Creekside Drive home after Lori Ann Rountree, a nanny, didn’t show up to work in Belle Meade.

There was no answer at the door when Rountree’s employer drove to the home, police said.

Sosa is expected to appear in court Friday, a relative said.

http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/19231.asp

Police Arrest Teen Neighbor in Mother, Daughter Murder
Posted: 5/11/2006 9:57:00 PM
Updated: 5/11/2006 10:55:02 PM


Fingerprints have led to an arrest in the murders of a mother and daughter. The suspect: a 16-year-old neighbor.


The teenager's fingerprints were in an FBI database.

The suspect was caught trying to sneak across the border from Mexico last year. He was jailed, fingerprinted and deported.

When Lori Rountree and her 16-year-old daughter Adrian were found stabbed to death inside their Creekside Drive home, Lonnie Velazquez couldn't believe there was a murder next door.

“I never imagined that something like this would happen,” Velazquez said.

Police said the murderer lived right downstairs.

“Who would think a murderer would live in the same house as I would,” Velazquez said.

At the time of the murder, 16-year-old Jose Presentacion Sosa lived in the basement apartment next door to the Rountrees

“He indicated he had never been inside the house. Never spoken or had any relationship whatsoever with them,” said Wil Nesbitt with Metro Police.

Crime scene investigators found his fingerprints inside. Wednesday night police arrested Sosa at his new apartment and charged him with murder.

“He denies any involvement, but ... we can prove different,” Nesbitt said.

Police haven't figured out what kind of contact Sosa had with the Rountrees other than his brother occasionally mowing their lawn. Investigators said the language barrier would have made communication difficult.

Velazquez speaks Spanish but rarely spoke to Sosa. He said he still can't believe he may have been living upstairs from a killer.

“Terrifying. ... Just bad people,” Velazquez said.

Police said they are still working to determine a motive. Sources tell NewsChannel 5 one possibility investigators are considering is that Lori Rountree walked in on Sosa trying to sexually assault her daughter.

Autopsy reports showed Lori and Adrian had both been stabbed more than a dozen times. In terms of a motive, anything is possible, but police said it doesn't look like anything was taken from the home, making robbery unlikely.

Police are still investigating other fingerprints found inside the home.

Jose Sosa is scheduled to appear in juvenile court Friday afternoon.