The jury in the Bessman Okafor murder trial has recommended the death penalty by a vote of 11-1.

Okafor was convicted last week of killing 19-year-old Alex Zaldivar during a home invasion in September 2012.

The same jury that convicted Okafor recommended the death penalty over life in prison without parole.

It will ultimately be up to the judge to decide Okafor's fate.  Circuit Judge John Marshall Kest said he will give his decision within 30 days, with a Spencer hearing within 14 days.

A Spencer hearing is an opportunity for the defendant's lawyers to present additional evidence.

For Rafael Zaldivar, Alex's father, who tirelessly waited for this day, the decision doesn't end the pain of losing his son.

“For me it won’t. Not until he’s executed," Zaldivar said. "That’s when the end will come.”

Zaldivar’s two roommates, who were also shot in the head, but survived, have also been waiting for this justice.

Brienna Campos broke down and sobbed in her family’s arms. She has had to relive that horrific night in September 2012 throughout the trial, recalling the details of when Okafor broke into the Ocoee home to kill her and her roommates.

Now three years later, Okafor, and his family sat motionless. They were hoping he would continue to serve a life sentence. Okafor’s brother says they will fight the verdict.

“We prayed to God," said Trentton James. "But we already knew what was gonna happen him. So we're prepared for the fight.”

The state and defense presented their closing arguments Tuesday morning.

State Attorney Jeff Ashton passionately pointed and yelled at Okafor in court, stating the convicted killer should be sentenced to death for his cold and calculated crimes. 

He described Okafor's plan to stop witnesses from testifying against him in a separate home invasion trial by breaking into the same home he robbed months prior. Ashton said Okafor dragged his three victims out of bed, made them get on the floor, and then told them they were going to die that night.

He then shot each one of them in the head, execution style.

Zaldivar died instantly, but his two roommates survived. Both testified against Okafor, and both have asked that he be sentenced to death.

"To have put any human being through that type of death is outrageously wicked and vile," Ashton said to the jury Tuesday. "Extremely wicked and shockingly evil. Mr. Okafor deserves the same fate. To die by the hand of man. And that is what I ask you to recommend."

Okafor's attorney, Francis Iennaco, told the jury that his client should be given life in prison because of his troubled childhood.

"Verbal and emotional abuse will affect the child," Iennaco said during closing arguments. "Sexual abuse (and) emotional neglect."

Recent death penalty convictions in Central Florida

March 2015: Dwayne White sentenced to death in Seminole for killing wife

December 2012: William Davis sentenced to death for killing teen

 


Alex Zaldivar would have turned 22 on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, the day Bessman Okafor was convicted of his murder.