Death Penalty News

(Lake County, FL) Today, State Attorney Bill Gladson of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, alongside Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell, announces the grand jury indictment of 44-year-old Shahidul Islam. A grand jury was convened earlier today to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to charge Shahidul Islam. The grand jury returned a true bill of indictment for Premeditated First-Degree Murder with a Firearm, F.S.S. 782.04(1)(a)1, 775.087(1), 775.087(2)(a)1, 775.087(2)(a)2, and 775.087(2)(a)3.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche has directed federal prosecutors in Los Angeles to seek the death penalty against three members of a transnational street gang charged with murdering a former gang member who was cooperating with law enforcement on a racketeering and methamphetamine trafficking case, officials announced Thursday. In a letter to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli on Wednesday, Blanche told prosecutors in the Central District of California they are “authorized and directed” to seek the death penalty against Dennis Anaya Urias, 27, Grevil Zelaya Santiago, 26, and Roberto Carlos Aguilar, 31. All are from South Los Angeles.

Justice Dep't prosecutors rebuffed Pima County Attorney's Office as they pursued 5-count indictment A Mexican man accused in a fatal carjacking was indicted on five counts by a federal grand jury Wednesday, including two that could result in life in prison or the death penalty. The case is at the center of a clash between the Pima County Attorney's Office and federal prosecutors. The federal charges of attempted carjacking resulting in death and use of a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death are the most serious federal charges against Julio Cesar Aguirre, 42, who was in the country without authorization when he allegedly shot and killed a 69-year-old-man during an attempted carjacking on June 30.

BROWNSVILLE — A jury on Tuesday decided Gustavo Tijerina Sandoval deserves the death penalty for the 2014 murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Tijerina Sandoval, 34, was convicted last week in the death of Javier Vega Jr., the border agent who was shot to death while fishing with family in a rural area near Harlingen. On Aug. 3, 2014, Tijerina Sandoval and another man attempted to rob the Vega family at gunpoint, when Vega Jr., a veteran of the Marine Corps., pulled out his weapon. After a brief exchange of gunfire Vega Jr. was shot in the chest and died on the way to the hospital. In addition to receiving the death penalty, Tijerina Sandoval was sentenced to life for attempted capital murder regarding the others in the Vega party. The Border Patrol agent’s father, Javier Vega Sr., was shot in the back during the firefight. Ismael Hernandez Vallejo, accused of being the second man in the robbery attempt, also is charged with capital murder and attempted capital murd...