SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A man arrested for killing his ex’s new boyfriend will now spend the rest of his life behind bars, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
According to investigators, the incident first happened back in September 2024, when the victim was found dead on the back porch of an apartment, a gunshot wound through his head.
Shortly beforehand, the gunman — identified as Nathaniel Bratcher, 28 — had called his ex-girlfriend at a bar to tell her he was going to the apartment to kill any man he found there, a release from the SAO states.
When she called him back moments later, Bratcher said he had done the deed, and police eventually discovered Bratcher in traffic with blood on his pants and shoes, investigators noted.
As a result, Bratcher was arrested and ultimately convicted last month of second-degree murder and battery.
“Bratcher didn’t exactly hide what he did, which helped Seminole County prosecutors convict him of murder and send him to prison for life,” the release reads.
SAO officials said he received the life sentence on Tuesday after the judge heard a victim impact statement from the victim’s mother.
“Bratcher not only took my son, he took a father, a grandchild, a brother, an uncle, and a friend from us,” the mother stated. “For this past year, my life has been nothing but pain. Hearing his sentence will never bring my son back.”