08 January 2018 :

Kevin Jeffries receives life in prison after resentencing. 3 1/2 years ago, Judge Brantley Clark Jr. signed an order sentencing Kevin Jeffries to death for 1st-degree murder. On Thursday, Clark signed an order to spare Jeffries' life, converting his sentence to life in prison. Convicted in the 2013 killing of Wallace Scott, Jeffries was sentenced to death in a 10-2 decision handed down by a jury in September 2014. 3 years later, after the Florida Supreme Court ruled the guidelines used to impose the death penalty in Florida were unconstitutional. "This record, coupled with a 10-to-2 jury recommendation and the mitigation presented, simply presents too many unanswered questions," the state Supreme Court wrote in its JULY 13, 2017 ruling. "Therefore, we must find reversible error and remand the case for a new penalty phase." According to court records, the state decided in November it no longer wished to pursue the death penalty in Jeffries' case. Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford reiterated that decision in court, saying the state was in agreement that it would not be pursuing the death penalty. Jeffries, along with co-defendants David Ian Challender and Ashley Griffin, broke into Scott's home in April 2013. Scott, who was 90 years old, was bound and tortured as the trio repeatedly held a knife to Scott's genitals, demanding his ATM personal identification number. When he refused, they killed him. Challender received life in prison after pleading outside of trial, while Jeffries received the death penalty. Griffin, who testified against Jeffries and Challender at trial, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.