Two men plead to second-degree murder charges

BROOKSVILLE – Richard Denard Harris and Nicholas Trammell, both charged with first-degree murder after a 2011 home invasion, signed off on plea deals on Thursday to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino said the victim’s family and sheriff’s office were agreeable to the lesser charge. Trammell, 22, and Harris, 26, will be sentenced by Judge Anthony Tatti at a later date.

The men face a minimum of 25 years in prison, and a maximum of life.

Earlier this year Judge Daniel Merritt Sr. accepted a plea deal for a third co-defendant, Robert Willoughby, that will send him to prison for 10 years on a second-degree murder charge.

As part of the deal, Willoughby said he would testify against Harris and Trammell.

At the time, Magrino said the three men entered Michael Pfeifer’s Masaryktown residence on Aug. 16, 2011, to rob him, each carrying guns.

Harris, Trammell and Willoughby ordered Pfeifer and his roommate, Cliff Kearney, down on the ground.

A fight broke out, and Pfeifer was shot, later dying from multiple gunshot wounds.