Jury says Zephen Xaver should die for killing 5 women execution-style at Sebring bank

A jury in Highlands County recommended the death penalty by a 9-3 vote on Wednesday for Zephen Xaver, who gunned down five people in a Sebring bank in 2019, according to WFLA news channel 8 in Tampa.

Last year, Xaver pleaded guilty to killing Ana Piñon Williams, Debra Cook, Marisol Lopez, Cynthia Watson and Jessica Montague. The sentencing phase of his trial had begun about two weeks ago.

Throughout the trial, defense witnesses testified that Xaver, 27, suffered from mental or emotional stress the day of the shooting. Both sides had called witnesses who testified he suffered from borderline personality disorder but they differed in their positions about his state of mind the day of the shootings.

During the trial, a 911 call was played for the jury, which contained an admission that he wanted to kill someone before committing suicide and that voices in his head told him to murder someone. He told the call taker he had heard the voices since he was 11 years old.

Xaver, who was 21 when the crimes were committed, was indicted by a Highlands County grand jury on five first-degree murder charges in the execution-style slaying of the women at the bank on U.S. 27.

He had walked into the bank wearing a bulletproof vest on Jan. 23, 2019 and forced four employees and one customer to lie on the floor and then shot and killed them, prosecutors said.

Wednesday’s proceeding began with closing statements by the prosecution and the defense.

Prosecutor Bonde Johnson told jurors the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt the aggravating factors required to recommend death, including that the crime was heinous, atrocious and cruel; and cold, calculated and premeditated.

Brian Haas, state attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, which includes Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, issued a statement following the verdict on Wednesday saying he was pleased with the jury’s death recommendation.

“The focus today should be on the five victims and their families and not the monster who committed these crimes,” Haas said.

“Five women, who were mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and so much more to so many people, had their lives cut short on that fateful day in January 2019,” he said.

“Their families have suffered so much without them; while they waited for justice. We now await the final sentencing in this case by the judge,” Haas said.

Under a new Florida law , the jury does not have to come to a unanimous decision on a recommendation for the death penalty. Xaver’s formal sentencing could be months away. The judge has the final say after a hearing is held, usually a month or more after the jury recommendation.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Jury says Zephen Xaver should die for killing 5 women execution-style at Sebring bank