VIERA, Fla. — Brandon Lee Bradley, who is on death row for shooting and killing Brevard County Deputy Barbara Pill during a 2012 traffic stop, will be sentenced to life in prison next month, the 18th Judicial Circuit said Wednesday.
What You Need To Know
- Brandon Bradley was convicted in the 2012 shooting death of Deputy Barbara Pill
- Because the jury's death recommendation was not unanimous, Bradley was granted a resentencing
- But the Pill family doesn't want to go through trauma of more testimony, state attorney says
Bradley was convicted of first degree premeditated murder in her death, and a jury voted 10-2 to recommend death. A judge subsequently imposed the recommendation.
But in 2017, Bradley was granted a new sentencing hearing after a Florida Supreme Court ruling that meant juries' death penalty recommendations must be unanimous.
Now, the 18th Judicial Circuit said the state of Florida won't pursue a resentencing hearing for Bradley, citing the Pill family's wishes not to be exposed to more pain and trauma from her loss.
"Not knowing what they are going to do from one day to the next, it's hard to deal with," said Steve Pill, Barbara's husband.
It's been nine years since Steve Pill lost his wife at the hands of a killer. Deputy Pill was gunned down in Melbourne during a traffic stop on March 6, 2012.
In a statement after speaking with the Pill family, State Attorney Phil Archer said in part, "Their expressed desire was to avoid re-living the pain and trauma they experienced in the first trial."
"We don't want to go through this all over again, it's too taxing on the family," Steve Pill said.
Because Bradley, 31, will not go through a resentencing hearing, he will get life without parole. He'll formally be sentenced July 23.
"You try and move on, but it still looms," Steve Pill said. "One way or the other, we got to end this."