Prosecutors say Amanda Roark sought help before Kyle Sanchez called dispatchers and acknowledged killing his girlfriend.

TAMPA, Fla. — A desperate emergency call from Amanda Roark’s phone and a second call placed minutes later by her boyfriend now form the central timeline in a first-degree murder case that has left a Tampa technology community grieving and Kyle Sanchez jailed without bond.

Sanchez, 35, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with a weapon in the June 19 death of Roark, 37. Hillsborough County deputies said Roark was killed at a home on Tuscan Loon Drive in the Palm River area while she and Sanchez were together. During a June 23 detention hearing, prosecutors played two 911 calls and presented testimony about the condition of the home, Roark’s injuries and statements investigators say Sanchez made after the killing. Circuit Judge J. Logan Murphy ordered Sanchez held without bond while the criminal case proceeds.

The first call came from Roark’s phone shortly after 3 p.m., according to court testimony and a pretrial detention filing described by news organizations that reviewed the records. Roark did not have a direct conversation with the dispatcher. Instead, her voice could be heard in the background asking someone to stop and saying that she was being killed. The call was chaotic, and the dispatcher could not obtain an address or a clear account of what was happening. Authorities said portions of the recording were inaudible, leaving emergency personnel without enough location information to immediately send deputies to the home.

About 12 minutes later, according to testimony at the bond hearing, a call came from Sanchez’s phone. Prosecutors said Sanchez gave the dispatcher the address and stated that he had murdered his girlfriend. He described Roark as beyond help and, when asked what had happened, spoke of suddenly having an unfriendly urge before grabbing a knife. Those statements are allegations contained in the prosecution’s evidence and have not been tested at trial. Sanchez’s not guilty plea means prosecutors must prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The two calls provided investigators with both an address and a sharply compressed sequence of events. Deputies arrived at the Tuscan Loon Drive home shortly after the second call. Authorities said Sanchez opened the front door with blood on his arms, legs and clothing and with a serious cut to his right hand. The Sheriff’s Office initially reported that an adult man at the home had minor injuries and was taken to Tampa General Hospital in stable condition. Sanchez remained hospitalized when the agency announced his arrest the following day.

Inside the residence, deputies found Roark unresponsive. The Sheriff’s Office initially described her as having trauma to her upper body and pronounced her dead at the scene. At the later detention hearing, Detective Joseph Koehler testified that blood was visible across numerous surfaces inside the home. Public accounts of the hearing described blood on walls, flooring, furniture, doors and other areas. Prosecutors also said investigators found what appeared to be a bloody handprint near an interior door handle. The extensive scene became part of the state’s argument that Sanchez should remain jailed before trial.

An autopsy found injuries to Roark’s hands, arm, neck, torso and legs, according to Koehler’s testimony. Prosecutors described wounds to her hands as defensive injuries and said the wound to the left side of her neck was fatal, while other injuries also contributed to her death. FOX 13 reported that investigators accused Sanchez of stabbing Roark 15 times. The medical and scene descriptions were presented in court to support the charge and detention request; a jury has not decided how the injuries were inflicted or whether Sanchez committed the charged offense.

Detectives also found a camera in the living room that was connected to power but had paper covering its lens, Koehler testified. Investigators sought separate legal authority to examine the device’s stored contents, according to the hearing account. It has not been publicly established whether the camera recorded anything relevant, whether it retained earlier footage or whether investigators recovered usable evidence. The unanswered questions surrounding that device illustrate how the case remains active despite the detailed allegations already presented in open court.

Sanchez told investigators that he and Roark had been dating since December 2024, according to Koehler’s testimony. Authorities described the death as a domestic-related homicide and said all involved people had been accounted for. They have not announced a motive or explained what, if anything, happened before the first emergency call. The absence of a publicly identified motive is significant because prosecutors have charged Sanchez with premeditated first-degree murder, an allegation that requires the state to establish the elements of premeditation through admissible evidence.

The detention hearing also drew attention to Sanchez’s employment history. A prosecution filing said he had worked as a data analyst at MacDill Air Force Base until May and had held a top-secret security clearance. That employment information provides background about his former position but does not establish any connection between his work and Roark’s death. Authorities have not alleged that classified material, national security information or his previous job played a role in the case. No public agency has said that the homicide created a security breach.

While the court proceedings focused on recordings and physical evidence, Roark’s friends and colleagues have sought to keep attention on her life. She worked at SOFWERX, a Tampa organization that supports technology and innovation work connected to U.S. Special Operations Command. The organization said Roark was a cherished teammate whose warmth, dedication and concern for others left a lasting impact. It asked the public to respect her family’s privacy while relatives, friends and coworkers mourned her death.

College friend Talia Landman told FOX 13 that Roark was an engineer who encouraged young women interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Landman described her as welcoming and joyful, with the ability to make people feel included. She said Roark had the intelligence and ambition to contribute to major engineering efforts, including future space missions. Landman also urged people to remember Roark as a person with accomplishments, relationships and plans rather than allowing the circumstances of her death to become her entire public identity.

The Sheriff’s Office first announced a homicide investigation on the afternoon of June 19. Its initial statement said deputies had responded to an emergency call at a home in the Palm River area, found a woman dead with upper-body trauma and sent a man with minor injuries to a hospital. In an update the next day, the agency identified Roark and Sanchez, announced the charge of premeditated first-degree murder with a weapon and said Sanchez remained hospitalized. Later court reporting established that he appeared with his right hand bandaged.

At the June 23 hearing, Murphy considered the calls, investigative testimony, medical findings and the circumstances deputies reported at the scene before denying bond. The ruling was a pretrial custody decision, not a finding of guilt. It means Sanchez may be detained while prosecutors pursue the case and his defense challenges the evidence. Publicly available reports do not identify a trial date, and authorities have not released a complete recording of the emergency calls or every document collected during the investigation.

Sanchez remains accused, not convicted. The case is expected to move through additional evidence review, motions and court hearings before any trial. Investigators have not publicly announced a motive, disclosed the results of the camera search or explained whether further forensic testing changed their account. Those issues, along with the admissibility and context of Sanchez’s recorded statements, are likely to shape the next stage of the prosecution.

Author note: Last updated July 19, 2026.