PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The jury in Shelby Nealy's sentencing trial recommended the death penalty with an 11-1 vote on all three counts for killing members of his wife's family.
The closing arguments for the prosecution and the defense were given in a Pinellas County courtroom on Friday.
During the defense's closing arguments, Nealy read a poem to his dead dad, who committed suicide.
In 2023, Nealy pleaded guilty to killing his wife, Jamie Ivancic, and members of her family.
Nealy was arrested in Ohio in 2019 after police caught him with a car stolen from a Tarpon Springs home, where the bodies of Nealy's in-laws and three dogs were discovered on New Year's Day.
Less than a week later, a fourth body connected to the case was found near a Port Richey home. Investigators later identified the remains as Jamie.
During the investigation, officials learned that after Nealy killed Jamie, he posed as her by sending texts and photos of their two kids to her family to pretend she was still alive. When her family grew suspicious, Nealy traveled to their home in Tarpon Springs and killed Jamie's father, Richard Louis Ivancic, mother, Laura Ann Ivancic, and brother, Nicholas James Ivancic.
Nealy pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a weapon for Jamie's death, reduced from the original first-degree murder charge, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
He also pleaded guilty to additional aggravated cruelty and first-degree murder charges for the deaths of Jamie's mother, father and brother, as well as the dogs. Jurors will be able to recommend life or the death penalty for the murders of her family.
In 2023, Florida legislation passed that lowered the jury requirement for death sentences from unanimous to a simple majority of 8 out of 12 jurors. Florida currently leads the nation in executions this year.
Joint Family Statement from the Ivancic Family Regarding Death Penalty Verdict
Joint Family Statement from the Ivancic Family Regarding Death Penalty Verdict by ABC Action News on Scribd
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