After deliberating for more than four hours Friday, John Michael DeJesus was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing his fiancée last year in front of her children.
The defendant took the witness stand Thursday in his own defense, claiming three men broke into his home in April 2014 after a drug deal and shot his fiancée, 22-year-old Yolizmarie DeJesus Borrero.
The jury got the case at 1:08 p.m. Friday.
"I want justice," Liz Borrero, the victim's mother, told the judge.
Borrero spoke briefly in Spanish before the sentencing portion of the trial.
"Not only for myself, for my two daughters and my grandchild," she said. "For the family, it was very traumatic."
Borrero is now the primary caretaker of the child, who was laying in the bed with her mother when she was murdered last year.
Shortly after the verdict, DeJesus was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
- PREVIOUS STORIES:
- (April 2014) Mother gunned down in front of children in Orlando
- (May 2014) Boyfriend of slain Orlando mother now murder suspect
- (May 2014) Man arrested, charged with murdering girlfriend
- (Nov. 3) Deputy at DeJesus murder trial: Defendant's story doesn't add up
- (Nov. 5) DeJesus takes stand in his own defense
Prosecutors grilled DeJesus about why he lied to detectives about not having a cellphone, and why he didn't call 911 after the shooting.
"You wouldn't want to give the law enforcement officers your phone because some of your drug-dealing buddies might be on there, right?" Assistant State Attorney Kelly Hicks asked.
"That's correct," DeJesus admitted.
"OK," Hicks continued, "What if it was somebody's number who was in your phone, and that would have helped them trace who did it. Doesn't that make your phone pretty relevant?"
"It's impossible," DeJesus replied.
DeJesus claimed deputies came to their own conclusion about what happened and arrested him for the crime.
"The timing of all of this — it defies common sense," Hicks said. "He's inconsistent. He's lying."