Daytona Beach, FL - A 25-year-old Deltona man now faces the death penalty for killing another in what authorities call a case of mistaken identity.
Christian E. Cruz was convicted in a Volusia County courtroom yesterday (February 28th) of first-degree murder during an apartment break-in in August 2013.
Spencer Hathaway - a spokesperson for Florida 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza - tells us the sentencing phase begins on Monday (March 4th), with all 12 jurors needing to sign off on a death sentence before Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano could impose it.
"The trial started on February 18th and lasted almost two full weeks," Hathaway added.
The jury also found Cruz guilty of armed burglary, armed robbery and kidnapping in that August 26, 2013 incident ending in the death of 25-year-old Christopher Jemery.
Prosecutors say Cruz targeted and killed Jemery after he thought he was ripped off in a drug deal, but Jeremy wasn't the man authorities believe Cruz intended to kill. Detectives think Cruz's intended victim - a friend of Jemery's - had recently moved out of the Belltower Apartments in Deltona and Jeremy had moved into his friend's apartment shortly before the break-in happened.
According to the charging affidavit, Cruz and another man - 30-year-old Justen Charles - used speaker wire and duct tape to bind Jemery and then beat him before loading him into the trunk of a rental car.
From there, both men drove Jemery to an industrial park in the Sanford area, at which point authorities say they shot Jemery in the head and left his body near some bushes.
Charles' trial is scheduled to begin May 28th in front of Judge Zambrano, according to Volusia County court records. He's also facing the same charges Cruz was convicted of.
