SEBRING, Fla. — On day two of the sentencing trial of Zephen Xaver, jurors heard emotional testimonies from witnesses who were inside and outside a Sebring bank during the 2019 massacre.
“That’s when I heard a second bang. That’s when I knew something was happening and I escaped out the back door of the break room,” said Ben Wysokowski.
Wysokowski a former SunTrust Bank teller, said on the witness stand that he was on his lunch break when he heard gun shots. He ran out of the break room, through a back door and knocked on the door of a nearby house for help.
“I just kept saying there’s been a shooting at the bank call the cops. There’s been a shooting at the bank call the cops,” said Wysokowski.
The prosecutor also called to the stand customer Victor Sparks. He said the doors were locked when he tried to enter the bank.
“At that time, I could see across the lobby... five people laying on their bellies facing away from me,” Sparks said.
Xaver opened fire inside the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, executing five women before surrendering to negotiators.
The victims included 65-year-old Cynthia Watson, 55-year-old Marisol Lopez, 38-year-old Ana Piñon-Williams, 31-year-old Jessica Montague, and 54-year-old Debra Cook.
Sparks thought it was a robbery in progress. He said he walked back to his car where his wife was waiting and called 911.
“There was one unmarked car that came first. Two officers got out towards the bank. Then two more marked cars came in. Then it was just a flood of law enforcement come in after that,” Sparks said.
Back in March, Xaver pleaded guilty to five counts of premeditated first-degree murder.
Jurors will decide whether Xaver is sentenced to death or life without parole.
The trial is expected by wrap up by the end of June.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
