Andrey Bridges gets life in prison for murder of CeCe Dove

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland--The family of Cemia CeCe Dove will not get their loved one back, but perhaps they will feel a measure of relief knowing that the man convicted of killing the young transgender woman will face life in prison.

Common Pleas Judge Hollie Gallagher sentenced Andrey Bridges on November 20. He will be eligible for parole in two decades, the same number of years Dove lived.

A jury convicted him on November 8 of murder, felonious assault, offenses against a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Bridges insisted that he did not kill Dove after she came to his Olmsted Township apartment for a date on January 5, and that one of the witnesses had actually done it, assisted by another of the witnesses.

The sentence included time for the other offenses, as well as for violation of his probation.

Dove was stabbed 40 times, tied to a concrete block and dropped into a retaining pond behind the apartment.

Police found her 3? months later. After police began investigating the murder, Bridges? landlord at the Olmsted Township apartment, Jason Quinones, recalled having gone to the residence on January 5, seeing him outside in a Tshirt with a bonfire going, bleeding from his hand. There were bloodstains in the apartment and the door frame was broken. Quinones evicted Bridges. Later, he went to the police when the murder made the news.

Bridges has been arrested at least eight times between 1995 and 2011, facing charges ranging from drug possession and trafficking to assault and domestic violence.

He was indicted for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault in 2011. In 2010, it was burglary and aggravated burglary, preceded by two arrests in 2007, one for drug possession and, later in the year, domestic violence.

In 1999, he was busted for theft and disrupting public services, while in 1998 he faced charges of possession of drugs, possession of criminal tools, trafficking in cocaine and preparation of drugs for sale.

In 1995, he was indicted on charges of attempted drug trafficking and drug abuse, and in 1997, he had charges of drug possession dropped.

The Plain Dealer received a great deal of criticism over its early coverage of the murder, referring to Dove by her birth name of Carl Acoff and using male pronouns. The paper apologized, and later coverage has exhibited more sensitivity.