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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nXaver pleaded guilty to five counts of murder for killing Ana Pi\u00f1on Williams, Debra Cook, Marisol Lopez, Cynthia Watson, and Jessica Montague at a SunTrust Bank in Sebring in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Florida law signed last year only requires eight jurors to vote for the death penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have absolutely no sympathy for him. I think he deserves everything he gets and more. If they\u2019d let me, I\u2019d be the one to pull the switch,\u201d said Michael Cook, Debra Cook\u2019s husband in court Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge Cowden said mitigating issues in Xaver\u2019s life, including his upbringing and mental health and medical history, did not outweigh the heinousness of the murders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d said Judge Cowden. \u201cEach 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will celebrate the day you die whenever that might be,\u201d said Kiara Lopez, daughter of Marisol Lopez in court. \u201cLet it be known that you will always be a killer, a coward, a nobody and a waste of human life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lopez said her mother\u2019s murder forced her to see the world differently and shattered her into a million pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never be able to find the pieces to put myself back together again and I loathe you for it,\u201d said Lopez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lopez said she blames others in Xaver\u2019s life for not seeing warning signs and taking action before he ended up in that bank in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 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],\u201d she told reporters after the judge ordered her sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI truly believe that I can move on with my life now,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSix 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,\u201d said state attorney Brian Haas after the sentencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would be a miscarriage of justice if these family members had to wait decades for this sentence to be carried out,\u201d said Haas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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