HIGHLANDS COUNTY, Fla. — The 911 call Zephen Xaver made moments after a 2019 massacre inside a Sebring bank was just some of the evidence jurors heard Monday as Xaver’s sentencing trial began.
Jurors will ultimately decide how Xaver should be punished for his crimes.
“The penalty for each of these crimes is either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty,” Judge Angela Cowden told the jury.
In 2019, Xaver opened fire inside a 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.
“They were mothers, wives, daughters,” Assistant State Attorney Bonde Johnson told jurors Monday.
Back in March, Xaver pleaded guilty to five counts of premeditated first-degree murder.
On the first day of Xaver’s sentencing trial, Johnson began making the state’s case for the death penalty and painted Xaver as a cold, heartless killer.
“There is no defense to these killings. There’s no self-defense. There’s no insanity. There’s no heat of passion,” he said.
The defense did not give an opening statement.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
