The State Attorney will seek the death penalty in the trial of the man accused of an Orlando homicide and thought to be connected to another on the same street.
- RELATED:
The Death Penalty Review Panel unanimously recommended pursuing death in the case of Jimmy Gary Merritt, who faces a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of 64-year-old Benny Clyde Hallmark.
Firefighters found Hallmark's body Oct. 20 in a recliner in his home on the 3000 block of Lauressa Lane in Orlando. He had been shot to death.
While investigating that case, homicide detectives found a badly decomposed body wrapped in plastic and blankets under a pile of items in the garage across the street from the home Hallmark was found in.
Orlando Police identified that person as 60-year-old Billy Wayne Deaton.