ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County judge sentenced Bessman Okafor, 30, to death Tuesday, for killing a man during a 2012 home invasion.
Okafor was found guilty in August of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Alex Zaldivar.
Prosecutors said Okafor killed Zaldivar, 19, to keep him from testifying against him in a previous home invasion. They said Okafor feared going back to prison.
Before he sentenced Okafor, Circuit Judge John Kest said Okafor was the triggerman, the recruiter, the planner and the mastermind in Zalvidar's death.
Raw: Bessman Okafor sentenced to death
Jurors also found Okafor guilty of two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of Brienna Campos and her brother Remington Campos. Okafor was given life sentences on those charges.
Following the sentencing, the Alex Zaldivar's father, Rafael Zaldivar, said he can't wait for Okafor to return to prison, this time to death row.
"Ten years is good enough for him in that 6-foot by 9-foot cell, and I cannot wait for the day that the Florida governor signs that document, issues the warrant for that man to be executed, because I'm going to be in front of that glass, whether he's euthanized or whether he is hit by firing squads, but he's going to see my face, and that's the last face he's going to remember," he said.
Emmanuel Wallace and Donnell Godfrey were both found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for their part in the shootings. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in their cases.
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