Pensacola man gets life in prison for second time within year for 2020 capital murder

A Pensacola man was sentenced to life in prison for the second time in a year after a jury found him guilty of murder Wednesday.

Ellis Clark, 25, was convicted of the first-degree premeditated murder of Andrew Howard IV on Dec. 27, 2020. Circuit Judge Coleman Robinson subsequently sentenced him to life in Florida's Department of Corrections, just under one year after the same judge sentenced him to life for a different murder.

Howard and Clark were arguing at the Northwoods apartments, according to police reports, and Howard's girlfriend said she saw the two in a physical altercation before Clark gunned the man down as he tried running away.

"The witness then ran outside, where she observed her boyfriend, Howard IV, lying on the patio area outside of their apartment," police records say. "The witness stated she saw that Howard IV had been shot."

Law enforcement later connected a vehicle used at the Northwoods apartments to Clark, which was set on fire after the shooting.

During a search of Clark's phone, it revealed he had been speaking with Nicholas Wells, Howard's brother, since Dec. 1 about planning the killing.

Wells was also indicted for the shooting, but took a plea deal and was sentenced to 20 years in state prison.

Ellis Clark's first life sentence

In June 2023, Clark was found guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Marcus Atienza for shooting him on Nov. 7, 2021, during a robbery.

Wells was also his accomplice in that case and was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, with a subsequent life sentence.

According to reports, the two were trying to buy marijuana from Atienza when they decided to rob him instead, leading to the shooting.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola man gets second life sentence for Andrew Howard murder