ORLANDO, Fla. — Santiago Garcia, the father of a man convicted last month of killing an 83-year-old Orange County woman he knew during a 2013 robbery, tried to convince a jury not to vote for the death penalty.
A jury found Juan Rosario guilty of first-degree murder and arson in the beating and fatal burning of Elena Ortega on Sept. 18, 2013.
As a reminder, Juan Rosario faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole for the murder of Elena Ortega. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) June 1, 2017
As we prepare for testimony, witnesses are being instructed not to opine on the appropriateness of the death penalty for Rosario. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) June 1, 2017
The medical examiner testified in April that Rosario burned Ortega alive after he failed to beat her to death in her Turnbull Drive home.
Juan Rosario's father took the witness stand at about 10 a.m.
He says Vilma was drinking "a lot of the time" when she was pregnant with Rosario. Family did not discourage it. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) June 1, 2017
He says Rosario had a habit of banging his head against things as a child. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) June 1, 2017
According to previous testimony, Rosario was raised by an alcoholic mother who was murdered during his adolescence.
Prosecutors tried to undermined Rosario's credibility by citing a previous deposition in which he answered the same questions differently.
Garcia testified that he was unable to provide clothing for his kids to wear to school. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) June 1, 2017
Rosario is already serving 18 years for a separate burglary case.
He faces the death penalty.
Garcia says Rosario got picked on for having a strangely-shaped head and inferior clothes. #WFTV
— Field Sutton (@EFieldSutton) June 1, 2017
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