ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man convicted of killing his neighbor more than two decades ago is one step closer to learning whether he will be sent to Florida’s death row.
The penalty phase in the case against DeMorris Hunter, 59, is set to begin on Monday, with prosecutors and defense attorneys presenting arguments for and against a death sentence.
Hunter was convicted last week of murdering Theresa Green in 2002. According to the case, he strangled Green in College Park, placed her body in the trunk of her car, and left the vehicle in a Walgreens parking lot in Sanford.
Hunter was not indicted for Green’s killing until 2014 — more than a decade after her death. In the years between the murder and the indictment, Hunter had already been convicted of an unrelated murder in California, where he was sentenced to 110 years in prison in 2005.
The sentencing phase is set to begin at 9 a.m.