Judge Angela Cowden has sentenced Zephen Xaver to death, following the recommendation from jurors at his sentencing trial in June.
Xaver pleaded guilty to five counts of murder for killing Ana Piñon Williams, Debra Cook, Marisol Lopez, Cynthia Watson, and Jessica Montague at a SunTrust Bank in Sebring in 2019.
In a nine to three-vote, jurors recommended the death penalty in the sentencing trial for Xaver in June. This decision came after years of delays.
A Florida law signed last year only requires eight jurors to vote for the death penalty.
“I have absolutely no sympathy for him. I think he deserves everything he gets and more. If they’d let me, I’d be the one to pull the switch,” said Michael Cook, Debra Cook’s husband in court Monday.
Judge Cowden said mitigating issues in Xaver’s life, including his upbringing and mental health and medical history, did not outweigh the heinousness of the murders.
“The defendant is seen to have a smirk on his face as he checked over his gun, taking his time as they waited laying face down,” said Judge Cowden. “Each second of the terrifying ordeal was experienced by the victims and each one, after the shooting of the first victim, waited for her turn to be killed.”
“I will celebrate the day you die whenever that might be,” said Kiara Lopez, daughter of Marisol Lopez in court. “Let it be known that you will always be a killer, a coward, a nobody and a waste of human life.”
Lopez said her mother’s murder forced her to see the world differently and shattered her into a million pieces.
“I’ll never be able to find the pieces to put myself back together again and I loathe you for it,” said Lopez.
Lopez said she blames others in Xaver’s life for not seeing warning signs and taking action before he ended up in that bank in 2019.
“The day I found out he was my age it really bothered me because he and I have lived through so many mass shootings that have happened at schools and to think, he still committed [a mass shooting],” she told reporters after the judge ordered her sentence.
“I truly believe that I can move on with my life now,” she added.
“Six years is an incredibly long time but in some respects, it seems like it was yesterday that we were out at the scene, in shock and just disbelief that something like this could happen in our community,” said state attorney Brian Haas after the sentencing.
Appeals are expected for the years to come but, for now, Xaver will leave Highlands County jail for the first time since the shootings and enter the Florida state prison state system.
“It would be a miscarriage of justice if these family members had to wait decades for this sentence to be carried out,” said Haas.
Excellent.
There should be a time limit on how long his appeals can go on for…That is only right for the families of the victims; they should not have to wait years to see justice done.
Quit wasting tax payers money. He is a worthless piece of garbage and should have already been executed. Give the families some peace of mind and get it done.
Personally I think death is too good for this POS. He gets to take the easy way out. Life without parole would have probably been more torturous than death. He should be forced to eat pubes off the prison floor for many many many years.
He will have to face the lord for what he did and its not going to be good . sorry for everyone lost Justice was done but it took to long to be service