Tampa man accused of stalking, attacking woman found guilty by jury

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa man was accused of stalking and attacking a woman he was obsessed with. Now three years later, a jury found him guilty on all counts. 

Prosecutors said Julio Martinez-Santana was driven by obsession and rage when he broke into the home of Ashley Anderson and went after her with a knife. Anderson testified during the trial about her terrifying ordeal. 

She said the two met in a job training class and got along. She said at first, Martinez-Santana was kind, but that quickly changed. 

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"At first it was like 'please go out with me, I’ll treat you better than anybody’s ever treated you' and then when I kept telling him no, he got worse. ‘You’re going to come with me,’" she recalled him saying. 

What followed, Anderson said, was a flood of voicemails and text messages that became more and more threatening in nature. Then on the night of August 1, 2019, she said she arrived home and was unlocking her front door when, Martinez-Santana came out from the shadows and attacked her. 

"He hit me so hard in the back of the head that I rolled inside my house, he continued, he just gets on top of me and puts his hands on my throat," said Anderson.

Martinez-Santana, said Anderson, had armed himself with a knife.

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"I was scared I had to find some way to get him off of me, he told me I would never see my son again," said Anderson.

During the struggle, Anderson said she was able to kick him off her, forcing him out of the house. She locked the door, but she said, that didn't stop him. 

He broke one of her front windows by throwing a brick through it, in an attempt to get back in the house. Anderson called for help and Martinez-Santana took off. Police eventually tracked him down and arrested him.

Hillsborough public defender Paige Tucker told the jury this is one big misunderstanding. Tucker explained the two went on walks, shared meals, and Martinez-Santana even gave Anderson rides to work.

Prosecutors argued friends don't show up with a knife and threaten your life.

Martinez-Santana was found guilty of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault and battery and aggravated stalking. His sentencing is scheduled for January 10, 2023.