Ayala plans to seek death penalty
Orlando man is accused of killing his neighbor, fatally bludgeoning another man with hammer
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala will pursue the death penalty against an Orlando man accused of killing his neighbor and bludgeoning another man to death with a hammer, then burying the body, her office announced Wednesday.
Ayala’s death-penalty review panel recommended capital punishment in the case against 37-year-old Jimmy Gary Merritt, a spokeswoman said.
This marks the second case in which Ayala’s panel will seek the death penalty since the Florida Supreme Court ruled that she must at least consider the punishment.
Ayala had announced in March that she would not pursue it in any case, sparking a battle with Gov. Rick Scott.
Records show Merritt was indicted on a first-degree murder charge Wednesday in the death of Benny Hallmark, who had been shot at least once. Officers were called to his home on Lauressa Lane near Catalina Elementary School and Memorial Middle School about 11:15 a.m. Oct. 20.
Hallmark was found dead in a reclining chair.
During the investigation, Merritt admitted to killing another man, Billy Wayne Deaton, with a hammer and burying him in his backyard.
Wednesday’s announcement comes just two days after Scott sent a scathing letter to Ayala demanding to know why she missed a filing deadline in the first death-penalty case.
After the state’s highest court sided with the governor in their back-and-forth battle, Ayala created a death-penalty review panel to determine for which cases the punishment was
The first case it selected was an Osceola County homicide where a woman, Emerita Mapp, was accused of stabbing a man to death at a motel in April.
But Ayala missed a 45-day filing deadline, throwing the Mapp case into question.
Scott called it “outrageous” that she missed the deadline.
Ayala, in turn, blamed the governor, saying that he was responsible because he had reassigned about 30 of her cases to Ocala-based State Attorney Brad King. appropriate.