Jury recommends death sentence for Bessman Okafor in murder case

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A jury has recommended Bessman Okafor be sentenced to death for killing a witness to an Ocoee home invasion Okafor is accused of committing.

Okafor, 30, has been convicted of shooting three people and killing Alex Zaldivar, 19, in 2012 in an attempt to stop them from testifying against him in a home invasion trial.

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton told the jury Okafor decided that Zaldivar should die by the hand of man and so Okafor should also die the same way.

The jury voted 11-1 in favor of the death penalty.

Raw: Jury recommends death for Okafor

Raw: Okafor's reaction to death recommendation

The defense, however, tried to make a case again that Okafor was innocent of the murder because of weak circumstantial evidence.

Okafor's family testified that he was beaten regularly, and that he was sexually abused by a church member. Okafor's mother, Catalina Ruffin, said she told the pastor and a deacon at their church about the incident, and that police and prosecutors got involved.

Ashton is challenging the defense expert's findings that Okafor's upbringing could have caused the level of aggression and cruelty Okafor unleashed on Zaldivar and his two roommates, Brienna and Remington Campos, who survived the shooting.

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"He decided that his life was more important than Alex Zaldivar's, Brienna Campos' and Remington Campo's. These people were shot. Alex Zaldivar shot dead because they had the audacity to testify against Bessman Okafor. They had the gall to make him take responsibility for what he'd done," said Ashton.

The Campos siblings said Okafor told them, "Someone's going to die tonight," before shooting each one of them in the head as they lay on the floor side by side.

"He wanted them to regret in the last moments of their lives that they dared testify against him," said Ashton.

"Ask yourself if Bessman Okafor had grown up with his father or grandfather or his aunt, would we be sitting here today? I submit to you that we would not," said defense attorney Fran Jeannaco.

Previous Stories:

Juror excused due to fear of jury intimidation in home invasion killing sentencing

Mother of convicted Ocoee home invasion witness killer testifies in sentencing phase

Okafor suffers medical problem in court, delaying sentencing phase

Sentencing phase begins in Orange County home invasion murder case

Prosecutors seek death penalty after suspect found guilty in home invasion murder trial

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