USA – Patrick McDowell (FL)
30 April 2024:
04/25/2024 – Florida. Patrick McDowell, 27, white, sentenced to death
A Nassau County jury voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty for Patrick McDowell for the Sept. 23, 2021, killing of Nassau County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Moyers, 29, to which he pleaded guilty on March 10, 2023 .
On Thursday morning, the judicial proceedings took an unusual turn when, before the closing argument, McDowell asked the judge to reopen the evidentiary phase of the trial so he could take the witness stand. McDowell read a letter to the courtroom, saying he deserved the death sentence rather than life in prison.
In the letter, McDowell said “this is a call for justice.” He told the jury it makes him sick to see people trying to justify what he did, said he never thought about Moyers’ life and that he “killed him just to get away,” and testified that if someone had killed his loved ones this way, he would have wanted him dead.
“I don’t deserve to live a long life in a place full of people who will praise and revere me as a cop killer. I deserve what I gave him. He deserved better, but I didn’t. Let me be clear, this is not a plea for my life or death. It’s a call for justice for Deputy Moyers and his family.”
Years of preliminary hearings have delayed the trial, with arguments over a change of venue and the admission of evidence from psychiatrists. Judge James Daniel has not set a date for formalizing the sentence.
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/verdict-is-in-nassau-county-cop-patrick-mcdowell-killed-josh-moyers/77-3a9c9c32-b88e-42de-8719-1482166579c2# :~:text=%E2%80%94%20A%20Nassau%20County%20jury%20has,sentence%20of%20life%20in%20prison.
(Source: First Coast News, 04/25/2024)
