Mik'Tavis Elonta Naeshu Green. Image courtesy of Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority.

This morning in Appomattox County Circuit Court, 23-year-old Mik'Tavis Elonta Naeshu Green, of Prospect, was sentenced to serve 25 years for his role in the murder of 45-year-old Bedford County resident Carlos Levell Rose on Oct. 20, 2020.

Green received 15 years for second degree murder, five years for desecration of a dead body, three years minimum mandatory for use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and one year each for abduction by force and arson of personal property.

Total suspended time on all charges, including conspiracy to commit abduction by force, conspiracy to desecrate a dead body, conspiracy to commit arson of personal property, and destruction of property comes to 63 years.

Rose's charred remains were found Oct. 21, 2020 in his own burned 2002 GMC Yukon in the Buckingham-Appomattox State Forest in Appomattox County. His body was only identifiable through DNA testing.

According to evidence presented against five co-defendants in the case, Rose was abducted by gunpoint in his vehicle in Madison Heights with a plot by the co-defendants to take him to his home and rob him of money. Rose was known as a marijuana dealer in the Lynchburg area.

Green sat in the back seat of the moving vehicle, holding Rose at gunpoint. Fearing for his life, Rose reached for Green's gun. The first shot hit the roof of the car near the back passenger side door jam. The second shot entered the base of Rose's skull. Green shot Rose with a .40-caliber firearm. The driver of the vehicle, Keyanta Ke'Shaun Robinson, also shot Rose in the chest. As a result, the trip to Rose's home was never made.

Four of the five co-defendants, led by Enrico Andre Moss, who was in a separate vehicle at the time of the murder, traveled to Appomattox County where the Yukon and Rose's corpse were set on fire with gasoline in an attempt to conceal evidence. Moss's girlfriend at the time, Artenna Kainna Horsley-Robey, also a co-defendant, had earlier admitted to Moss that she had been having a long-term sexual relationship with Rose since she was a pre-teen.

Appomattox County Commonwealth's Attorney Les Fleet read segments of victim impact statements written by members of Rose's family before sentencing today. Fleet stated that the burning of Rose's body has caused Rose's family the greatest amount of grief, beyond even the initial murder itself.

"What monsters you are to burn my son up. I hate all of you," Rose's mother wrote in an excerpt read by Fleet.

Green had pleaded guilty to the charges on Jan. 5.

Find out more in the May 31 issue of the Times Virginian newspaper. Pick up a copy or subscribe at www.timesvirginian.com/subscriber_services to view the full article in the e-edition version.