Michael Bargo – white, age 18
Sentenced to death in Marion County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (10-2)
Date of crime: 4/17/11
Prosecution’s case/defense response: As a result of bad blood between Bargo and 15-year-old Seath Jackson over Amber Wright, who they had both dated, Wright lured Jackson to an isolated location, and Bargo, Wright, and 4 others beat him, shot him, burned his corpse, shoveled the remains into paint cans, and threw them in a limestone quarry. Bargo testified that one of the cohorts was the triggerman. The defense presented evidence in mitigation that Bargo was abused as a child, and that he had a brain abnormality that affected his ability to control his anger.
Sources: Gainesville Sun (Fla.) 8/20/13, 8/23/13, 12/13/13.
John William Campbell – white, age 36
Sentenced to death in Citrus County, Florida
By: a judge upon recommendation of a jury (8-4)
Date of Crime: August 2010
Prosecution’s Case/Defense Response: Campbell was convicted of killing his father, John Henry Campbell, age 68. J.H. Campbell was found by deputies conducting a well-being check. The younger Campbell used a cutting implement with a blade “more suited for crushing than cutting” and chopped his father three times in the head. Money taken off the father was used to purchase crack cocaine.
Sources: Citrus County Chronicle (Crystal River, FL) 3/19/13.
Steven Cozzie – white, age 21
Sentenced to death in Walton County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation (12-0)
Date of crime: 6/16/11
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Cozzie kidnapped, sexually assaulted, strangled, and beat to death 15-year-old tourist Courtney Wilkes. Cozzie had been kicked out of house by his mother a couple of weeks before the murder, and he had been hanging around the condominium complex where Courtney’s family was staying. Cozzie invited Courtney to take a walk, and her mother permitted it. On the walk, Cozzie threw his shirt around Courtney’s neck and strangled her, then dragged her into a dry cypress swamp where he sexually assaulted her and finished killing her by beating her with a piece of lumber. The defense presented evidence of Cozzie’s abusive upbringing and immaturity.
Sources: AP Alert – FL 6/14/13; N.W. Fla. Daily News 6/18/13, 6/20/13.
Wayne Doty – white, age 37
Sentenced to death in Bradford County, Florida
By: a judge – jury recommendation unknown
Date of crime: 5/17/11
Prosecution’s case/defense response: While serving a life sentence for murder in the Miami-Dade Everglades Correctional Institute, Doty and another inmate strangled and stabbed to death fellow inmate Xavier Rodriguez.
Sources: Fla. Times Union (Jacksonville) 3/3/12; Miami Herald 1/28/12.
Richard Franklin – black, age 38
Sentenced to death in Columbia County, Florida
By: a judge – jury recommendation unknown
Date of crime: 3/18/12
Prosecution’s case/defense response: While serving a life sentence for murder at the Columbia Correctional Institute, Franklin killed correctional officer Ruben Thomas by stabbing him in the neck with a shank during a cell check. Franklin injured another correctional officer in the attack.
Sources: Various on-line sources.
Victor Guzman – Latino, age 27
Sentenced to death in Miami-Dade County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (7-5)
Date of crime: 12/9/00
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Guzman burglarized the home of 80-year-old Severina Dolores and killed her by stabbing her 58 times. This cold case was solved when his DNA was later added to a database after he violated probation in a case of lewd conduct with a minor. The DNA database also connected him to the sexual assault of a minor in 2002. The defense presented mitigating evidence that Guzman had a terrible upbringing, was an alcoholic, and had started a ministry while in prison.
Sources: Miami Herald 9/11/12, 4/25/13.
Derral Hodgkins – white, age 47
Sentenced to death in Pasco County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (7-5)
Date of crime: 9/27/06
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hodgkins was on lifetime parole after serving 17 years for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor when he killed Teresa Lodge in her apartment by strangling and stabbing her 7 times. The defense presented evidence that parts of Hodgkin’s brain were smaller than normal, impairing his impulse control; that he was abused as a child; and that he had family members who loved him.
Sources: Tampa Bay Times 4/27/13.
Kenneth Jackson – white, age 25
Sentenced to death in Hillsborough County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (11-1)
Date of crime: 9/13/07
Prosecution’s case/defense response: While Cuc Thu Tran was on her morning jog, Jackson kidnapped her in a van he had stolen, then sexually assaulted her and stabbed her to death. He drove the van with her body in it 13 miles and then set it on fire. The defense presented mitigating evidence that Jackson had been abandoned by his mother and raised by a grandmother who set no boundaries. He had smoked marijuana since age 5, and had learning disabilities.
Sources: Tampa Trib. 7/12/11, 11/3/12; Tampa Bay Times 11/2/12.
Kim Jackson – black, age 34
Sentenced to death in Duval County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (8-4)
Date of crime: 10/1/04
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Jackson killed Debra Pearce in her home by slashing her throat and stabbing her in the chest. The motive was unproven, but may have been connected with drugs being sold out of Pearce’s home. It was not until 2008 that a match from the DNA database determined that Jackson’s blood was present in the room where the killing occurred. Jackson had a history of violent crime. The defense argued that the prosecution had only proven that Jackson had been in the house, not that he had committed the murder. In mitigation the defense offered Jackson’s difficult life circumstances, and that he was a good husband, father, and friend.
Sources: Fla. Times Union (Jacksonville) 4/18/13, 4/27/13, 10/1/13.
Joseph Jordan – white, age 38
Sentenced to death in Volusia County, Florida
By: a judge – jury recommendation unknown
Date of crime: 6/24/09
Prosecution’s case/defense response: In attempting to collect money that Jordan thought Keith Cope owed him, Jordan bound Cope to a bed and left him. The binding on Cope’s left arm was so tight that by the time he was discovered 3 days later his arm had to be amputated, and he ultimately died about 2 weeks later. Jordan had a prior violent felony conviction. The defense contended that Jordan had been off his medication for bipolar disorder, had not intended to kill Cope, and that Jordan had experienced a rough childhood.
Sources: Daytona News-J. 4/23/13.
Leo Kaczmar—white, age 24 (re-sentence after appellate reversal)
Sentenced to death in Clay County, Florida
By: a jury
Date of crime: 12/08
Prosecution’s case/defense response: While high on cocaine, Kaczmar stabbed to death his father’s girlfriend Mary Ruiz with about 90 wounds, and then set the house afire. After his arrest he tried to pay an undercover officer $300 to frame someone else for the murder. Kaczmar’s first death sentence was reversed for inclusion of an inapplicable aggravating circumstance.
Sources: Florida Times Union (Jacksonville) 10/11/13.
Joel Lebron – black, age 23
Sentenced to death in Miami-Dade County, Florida
By: a judge upon recommendation of a jury (9-3)
Date of Crime: April 2002
Prosecution’s Case/Defense Response: Lebron and five other men kidnapped and murdered Ana Maria Angel, age 18. Lebron shot Angel in the back of the head as she begged for her life. Lebron confessed to the crime in detail to investigators and his DNA was matched to semen found inside the victim. Lebron’s defense attorneys claimed that brain damage from a childhood car accident left him prone to impulses. They tried unsuccessfully to introduce evidence of the trauma using brain mapping technology.
Sources: Orlando Sentinel 2/1/13; Miami Herald 1/13/13.
Khadafy Mullens – black, age 24
Sentenced to death in Hillsborough County, Florida
By: a judge after waiver of jury
Date of crime: 8/17/08
Prosecution’s case/defense response: During the robbery of a grocery store Mullens killed the store owner, Mohammad Uddin, and then killed Ronald Hayworth, who had stumbled into the robbery. Both victims pleaded for their lives. Mullens also shot another customer who survived. The defense presented mitigation evidence that Mullens had experienced a horrible childhood, and suffered from bipolar disorder and a drug habit.
Sources: Tampa Trib. 8/24/13.
Khalid Pasha—white, age 58 (re-sentence after appellate reversal)
Sentenced to death in Hillsborough County, Florida
By: a jury
Date of crime: 8/23/02
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Pasha slit the throats of his wife Robin Canaday and her adult daughter Ranesha Singleton. Pasha had prior felony convictions, including 2 bank robberies. His first sentence was reversed because he was improperly denied the right to act as his own attorney. At the resentencing the defense presented mitigating evidence that Pasha had a terrible childhood, and argued that in light of his then advanced age (69) and fragile health, he should simply be condemned to die in prison.
Sources: Tampa Bay Times 2/13/13.
John Sexton – white, age 46
Sentenced to death in Pasco County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (10-2)
Date of crime: 9/22/10
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Sexton beat to death 94-year-old Ann Parlato, who had hired him to mow her lawn. Sexton sexually assaulted Parlato with an object, mutilated her body, and set it on fire. The defense offered mitigation evidence that Sexton had battled mental problems much of his life, partially from exposure to toxic chemicals at work; and was the product of a violent home.
Sources: Tampa Trib. 4/20/13, 5/7/13, 12/16/13.
Delmer Smith III – white, age 37
Sentenced to death in Manatee County, Florida
By: a judge following a jury recommendation of death (12-0)
Date of crime: 8/3/09
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Smith was burglarizing the home of Kathleen Briles when she arrived home. He bound her and beat her to death with an antique sewing machine. At the time of his sentencing he was already serving a life sentence for another home invasion robbery, and was a suspect in several others. The defense argued that Smith had brain abnormalities that could cause him to overreact in stressful situations.
Sources: Bradenton Herald (Fla.) 5/27/13, 5/29/13.