Woman who killed roommate with hammer gets 40 years in prison

A Florida woman, Tracey Stanley, who used a hammer to kill her roommate, has been sentenced to many years behind bars.

At 63 years old, accepted a no-contest plea for a murder charge linked to the violent death of her 72-year-old roommate, Andrea Kathleen Day.

The Office of the State Attorney, Fifth Judicial District, announced that Stanley received a sentence of 40 years in prison on January 9, which came three months after she entered her plea.

Based on court documents examined by Law&Crime, Stanley herself made the 911 call on July 20, 2024, to report Day's death.

Responders arrived to discover Day's body lying on the kitchen floor wrapped in a blue tarp.

"Blood on the floor, ceiling and walls of the hallway", and "obvious drag marks" suggested that the body had been moved from the hallway to the kitchen.

When detectives from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office interviewed Stanley, she appeared eager to discuss anything but the deceased body in her house, according to court documents.

After further questioning by detectives, she requested legal counsel.

The detectives noted that Stanley had "minor scratch marks" on her face, accompanied by "fresh blood."

During the investigation, a hammer was recovered containing both Day's and Stanley's DNA, prosecutors mentioned.

Day had suffered approximately 20 blows to the head with the hammer's pointed end.

Officials stated that Day's upper body, including her head, was found encased in three garbage bags. Her face was in "stages of decomposition," leading prosecutors to surmise that she had been "deceased for a while" before Stanley’s report.

The arrest warrant revealed that investigators were approached by a postal worker who recounted that Day had requested her assistance in evicting Stanley from the premises.

Stanley had received the eviction notice on June 24, 2024, just a few weeks before she killed Day.

Stanley entered a plea of no contest to second-degree murder and will be confined for the next 40 years by the Florida Department of Corrections.