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Donna Buchanan


Inmate Name: Donna Buchanan Charge: Degree Murder Sentence: 15 years Prison: Gadsden Correctional Institution, Florida Donna Buchanan was born in 1962 and grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. When she was 12 years old, her relationship with her father began to deteriorate. She would ditch classes and disappear for days at a time. By the time Donna was 14, she was living on the streets until she moved in with her sister in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But Donna’s drinking and drugs drove the sisters apart until Donna’s sister asked her to leave. She spent her late teens shuttling around Fort Lauderdale, living in shelters and on the beach. Her drug use escalated even further and she continued her drug habit into her 20s while living with various boyfriends. According to the police, Donna had been arrested numerous times for drugs. She also had been arrested for prostitution, heroin and cocaine possession. In 1991, Donna mother’s moved to Florida and the two decided to rent a condo together. Their landlord was an elderly man named Charles Gouveia who sparked a fast, yet unlikely friendship with Donna. They became more than just friends and, in 1993, Donna moved in with Charles. She was 30 and he was 73. Donna says the age difference didn’t mean anything to her. Donna continued her drug use and claims that Charles enabled her habit and used it to control her. At the same time, the tension between them began to escalate. A neighbor could hear her yelling inside the house. Donna would try to stop her drug habit by going to rehabilitation centers but she always went back to the drugs and to Charles. On October 6, 2000, Donna claims she and Charles got into a fight in which Charles had a butcher knife and threatened to kill her, but then backed off. Then, she claims, he came after her a second time and the fight continued into his office. She panicked and stabbed Charles 54 times. She claims that she then thought about killing herself but called a girlfriend, her sister and mother on the phone. Her sister called the police. When the police arrived Donna first told them that Charles was out working but when the police looked inside, they found Charles’ body. Donna became a suspect and was charged with murder in the first degree. Her defense attorney brought in top psychologists in the field of battered women to evaluate Donna. The test results showed pretty serious impairment of brain function. It was determined that she had a history of mental illness, drug abuse and a history of being severely abused as well. But the police theorize that Donna was having an argument with Charles about getting more drugs and that she stabbed him to death in anger so that she could get drugs that Charles had locked in a safe. Donna pled guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a 15-year sentence. In prison, Donna is taking an industrial drafting class and also tutors young girls. According to her sister, she is off drugs. Donna is learning to live a drug-free lifestyle while in prison. She says she wishes every day that she could tell Charlie she is sorry. She will be eligible for parole in 2013.