ORLANDO, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida man who described jail as a “comfort” and said he was happy behind bars had his wish for a life sentence granted by a judge on Tuesday.
Ralph Hensel speaks during his sentencing hearing on Nov. 10, 2026. (Court TV)
Ralph Hensel, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder just as jury selection was scheduled to begin. Hensel had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ja’Keem Williams, 32, who was shot to death at the apartment complex where Hensel lived.
On Feb. 25, 2025, the Bay Pointe Apartments leasing office manager called the police to report that a man was riding an ATV back and forth. One minute later, another call came in reporting that the person on the ATV had been shot. Hensel, who was standing nearby with a weapon, surrendered to police when they arrived.
“You are sick and disgusting to me. You murdered my son in cold blood,” Williams’ mother said Tuesday. One by one, Williams’ family members testified from the witness stand, describing a loving father and bright light killed in the prime of his life.
The mother of Williams’ three children said that her daughter, 6, “misses her father so much that she often says she wants to go to heaven to be with him.” The youngest of the couple’s three children was 11 months old when Williams was killed. “Your Honor, I’m not standing here asking for revenge,” she said, asking for Hensel to be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. “I’m standing here asking for justice.”
Williams’ father had harsh words for the defendant, telling him, “You don’t deserve to see the light of day and I want you to live out your life and die in prison. If it was left up to me, you would get dealt the same way you dealt my son.” When he asked to say more, Judge Gisela Laurent stopped him.
Williams’ father: Can I call him something?
Laurent: We’re not here for name-calling. You can give your victim impact statement; it should be geared towards me.
Williams’ father: OK, I’ll leave it alone.
Williams’ mother told the courtroom that she believed Hensel targeted her son because of the color of his skin. “Nobody can tell me that you didn’t do it because of that,” she said. “You do not deserve to live another day on this Earth. You are scum. You are a murderer.”
Hensel, who had initially said he had no statement to make at the hearing, changed his mind after hearing Williams’ family speak. “All of my life I have tried to make this world a better place. There was nothing racist about this,” he said. “Somebody who was doing something they shouldn’t have been doing in someplace they shouldn’t have been, and then whenever they decided they did not want to hear me telling him not to do it or to leave, he came after me. So that’s it. I’m willing to take responsibility for my part in the situation. When is anybody else going to take responsibility for their part?”
Hensel then turned to the judge and told her that it “doesn’t matter” whether she sentenced him to the 25-year minimum or life in prison. “I plan on dying in prison. So give me life. As a matter of fact, my lawyer could tell you, I asked whether or not I could get the death penalty, because I’m not afraid to die. I know I’m going to heaven,” he said. “I have felt more protected in jail than I have ever been in my life. … Being in jail, Your Honor, has actually been a comfort to me, because whenever I’m in that cell by myself, I’m not afraid to be in there by myself, because I’m good with me and God is with me. I’m happy about that.”
“Your Honor, I’ve been prosecuting homicides for over 15 years or so, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard such arrogance coming from an adjudicated murderer,” prosecutor Frank George said after Hensel left the stand. “He likes being in prison? He likes being in jail? He’s comfortable there? Send him there,” he said. “Send him there forever.”
Laurent complied with the defendant’s wish, sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
