Adam Mitchell Soules was adjudicated guilty and sentenced Friday to life in prison for premeditated first degree murder in the 2019 death of Fort Myers Beach library director Leroy Hommerding.
Soules, 40, was found guilty December 16, 2022, following a trial in Lee County. He was indicted by the Lee County Grand Jury in February 2019, on the same count.
Hommerding was opening the library at 9 the morning of Jan. 20, 2019, to get ready for a book sale. Soules, armed with a machete, approached the victim, attempting to stab him in the face and upper body. Hommerding tried to defend himself but was stabbed in the lower torso. He died in the library lobby.
Soules ran from the scene and eventually made his way onto the rooftop of a nearby abandoned supermarket. He was pinpointed by a witness to the attack who followed him and alerted deputies from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
During an interview with detectives about two hours after the crime, Soules admitted stabbing and killing Hommerding and said it was because he did not like him. He also admitted he had been thinking about killing the victim prior to that day.
A video of the interview was played during trial for the jury.
The case dragged on for several years during which Soules was checked for competency levels, given psychiatric evaluations, and ordered to spend time in a mental health treatment facility.
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