ORLANDO, Fla. — A man convicted of killing a 16-year-old boy during a 2004 home invasion in Orange County was re-sentenced in an Orlando courtroom on Wednesday to life in prison.
- Derrick McLean, now 42, was on Florida’s death row
- McLean killed Jahvon Thompson on November 24, 2004
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McLean won a resentencing hearing because of a court ruling requiring jury unanimity for death-penalty recommendations.
In McLean’s case, a jury in Orlando voted 9-3 in 2007 to execute him by lethal injection, a recommendation approved by a judge.
Records show he shot Jahvon three times in the chest after breaking into the apartment the teen shared with his father.
McLean and two accomplices had hoped to steal marijuana or cash from Jahvon’s father during the home invasion.
His resentencing is one of many death-penalty cases assigned to State Attorney Brad King, the top prosecutor for Marion, Citrus, Lake, Sumter, and Hernando counties.
King confirmed McLean’s resentencing to Spectrum News 13 late Wednesday.
Former Gov. Rick Scott reassigned McLean’s resentencing and 20 other death-penalty cases to King after Orlando’s top prosecutor -- Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala -- revealed her opposition to executions.
Ayala is not seeking re-election. Voters in Orange and Osceola counties will select a new top prosecutor next year.