DEATH PENALTY

A juror accused of causing a mistrial at the resentencing of a convicted Central Florida killer now faces contempt charges, after facing a judge Thursday.

A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the resentencing of a convicted Central Florida killer who had already once been spared from a death sentence.

Convicted killer Bessman Okafor is once again going before a jury to decide if he should get the death penalty for the 2012 murder of a witness to a home invasion.

As courts across Florida have scrambled this year to figure out how to apply a new death-penalty law, the resentencing of two men convicted in a notorious Volusia County case known as the “Xbox murders” added to the questions.

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain, who Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis installed in the ouster of Monique Worrell, holds a news conference to announce updates and policy changes.

Scheduled to die in Florida's execution chamber, Brevard County convicted double-murderer James Barnes asked to fire his attorneys and dismiss all legal proceedings last month in order to “proceed straight to execution,” a court transcript shows.

A new law regarding jury recommendations and the death penalty can be applied to the resentencing of two men in the 2004 murders of several people at a Deltona home, the Florida appeals court ruled Thursday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill eliminating a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before judges can impose death sentences.

The Florida House gave final approval to a bill that would eliminate a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before judges can impose death sentences, sending the issue to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Florida has executed a man known as the “ninja killer” for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey.

In a move that likely would spur a constitutional fight, Florida lawmakers appear ready to pass a proposal that would allow the death penalty for people who commit sexual batteries on children under age 12.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected arguments aimed at sparing the life of death row inmate Louis Gaskin, setting the stage for his execution next week in the 1989 murders of a Flagler County couple.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott tweets an “automatic death penalty” should be considered for school shooters.

A Florida House panel Wednesday supported lowering a threshold for sentencing defendants to death.

Court records show that the man — 56-year-old Louis B. Gaskin — was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1990 after murdering a husband and wife in Flagler County the year prior.

Next month’s scheduled execution of a Texas death row inmate whose attorneys say gouged out both of his eyes because of severe mental illness was delayed by a judge.

Activists pushing to change Florida’s death penalty law gathered in front of the Orange County Courthouse Wednesday ahead of the first execution in the state since 2019.

With backing from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida lawmakers could scrap a requirement that unanimous jury recommendations are needed before death sentences can be imposed.

A Missouri inmate has been put to death for a 2003 killing, becoming what is believed to be the first transgender woman executed in the U.S. Amber McLaughlin was put to death Tuesday night, hours after Republican Gov. Mike Parson declined a clemency request.

A Mississippi man has been put to death by lethal injection for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl more than two decades ago.

Nine of the 12 jurors voted to hand down the death penalty, but in Florida, a unanimous vote is required.

Backlash over the Parkland shooting penalty phase verdict is reaching the highest levels of the state.

Alabama could be ready to use a new, untried execution method to carry out a death sentence later this month.

Convicted cop killer Markeith Loyd gave a letter to Orange County Sheriff John Mina claiming he “never wanted to kill” Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

Convicted killer Markeith Loyd has been sentenced to death and the family of Lt. Debra Clayton and Orlando leaders are sharing their approval of the judge's ruling.

Convicted cop killer Markeith Loyd was sentenced to death by a judge for the murder of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton in 2017.

The man who killed three women in Daytona Beach was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday night.

Closing arguments are set to get underway in the trial of a man accused of killing three women in Daytona Beach.

Opening statements began Friday in the murder trial of Robert Hayes, who’s suspected of killing three women in Daytona Beach.

As a Spencer hearing for Markeith Loyd resumed Monday morning, he left the courtroom abruptly while struggling with deputies.

States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year.

Markeith Loyd on Wednesday became the latest person to be handed a death penalty recommendation by a jury in Florida, stemming from his guilty verdict in the 2017 murder of Orlando police Lieutenant Debra Clayton.

Attorneys in the penalty phase of Markeith Loyd’s second murder trial said the decision on whether or not Loyd will be sentenced to death could be in the jury’s hands as early as Tuesday.

The penalty phase of Markeith Loyd’s second murder trial resumed Friday as the judge and jury work to determine a punishment for Loyd following his guilty verdict in the 2017 killing of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

The penalty phase of Markeith Loyd’s murder trial for the 2017 killing of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton continues.

The penalty phase of Markeith Loyd’s second murder trial continued Wednesday, following how prosecutors rested their case Tuesday and Loyd’s defense team moved for judgment of acquittal.

The penalty phase continues in the second Markeith Loyd murder trial.

A Texas inmate has been executed for fatally stabbing two Houston-area brothers during a robbery in their home more than 30 years ago.

A man convicted of killing two Kissimmee police officers was in court Monday as his lawyers are expected to ask a judge to not consider the death penalty in his sentencing.

The state attorney's office for Brevard and Seminole Counties filed a motion of intent to seek the death penalty against a mother and her boyfriend after investigators accused the pair with a 3-year-old boy's death.

The man accused of shooting a Daytona Beach police officer in June will appear before a judge Wednesday on an upgraded murder charge following the officer’s death weeks after being shot in the line of duty.

The state attorney for Brevard and Seminole counties announced on Wednesday that he would not seek to relitigate the sentencing of a man who killed a Brevard County deputy in 2012.

Arizona has refurbished its gas chamber at a prison where the last lethal-gas execution in the United States was carried out in 1999.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala will not seek the death penalty against Anthony Todt, who stands accused of killing his wife and three children at a home in Celebration last year. Ayala, who has made headlines in the past due to her stance on the death penalty, filed a notice of intent to not seek the death penalty in the case of Todt and several other high-profile cases. News 6 has reached out to Ayala, who did not seek re-election, for comment but has not heard back. He made similar claims in the two phone calls to his sister in March and April, suggesting that Megan Todt had tried to kill the children before. Todt told his sister in a phone call from jail that he couldn’t have stopped his family from being slain — because he wasn’t around.

MELROSE, Fla. – Prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty in the case of a 30-year-old Florida man accused of killing two teenage brothers in their home over the summer. Officials filed a request notifying the court that they plan to pursue the death penalty against Mark Wilson Jr. after a grand jury indicted him Oct. 20 on two counts of first-degree murder, the Gainesville Sun reported. Wilson is accused of using a hammer and knife to kill 14-year-old Tayten Baker and 12-year-old Robert Baker in their home in August. State Attorney R.J. Larizza said his office consulted with the boys’ family prior to making the decision to seek death for Wilson, the newspaper reported. Wilson was the boyfriend of the boy’s aunt, and the family had allowed them to live in a shed in their backyard, officials said.

ORLANDO, Fla. The state Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments Tuesday surrounding the case against convicted killer Bessman Okafor. The state of Florida is seeking to have the death penalty reinstated against Okafor, who was sentenced to death row in 2015 for the murder of Alex Zaldivar. Okafors case was sent back for re-sentencing after a change in the law required a unanimous jury decision. However, the state Supreme Court reversed its own ruling and said an unanimous decision was not necessary for someone to be sentenced to death. Prosecutors asked a lower court earlier this year to reinstate Okafors death sentence but was denied.