Local

Convicted killer Bessman Okafor to get new sentencing in 2018

A convicted killer is scheduled to appear in court Monday for a status hearing as he awaits a new sentence.
Bessman Okafor killed Alex Zaldivar, 19, and wounded two others in a 2012 Ocoee home invasion.
Rafael Zaldivar, the victim's father, said reopening this case is painful.
"I want to move on from this. It's been going on for six years," he said. 
In those six years without his 19-year-old son, the pain from the loss and struggle have not dimmed for Rafael. 
"I'm just sorry he's not here to share our life. It's hard. It's very hard," he said.
A judge scheduled Okafor’s new sentencing phase for November.
The sentencing should take two weeks, with the first for jury selection and the second for witness testimonies.
“It's opening up old wounds. It's terrible for our family,” Rafael Zaldivar said.
Okafor was sentenced to death in November 2015 for killing Alex Zaldivar and wounding two others during an Ocoee home invasion in 2012.
The three were set to testify against Okafor in a separate home invasion before the killing.
Rafael Zaldivar said he thinks about his son every day.
“He was a good and loving son. Unfortunately, he barely passed his 18th birthday,” he said.
State law has changed since the previous jury voted 11-1 to send Okafor to death row.
Jurors must now all agree on the death penalty.
Rafael Zaldivar believes that will happen.
“I'm very confident they're going to do it again,” he said.
Months after the Supreme Court ruling, Orange and Osceola County State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced she would not seek the death penalty during her tenure.
Gov. Rick Scott then gave Okafor’s case, along with dozens of others, to State Attorney Brad King in Ocala.
%INLINE%%INLINE%
“Out of the blue, we had to deal with Aramis Ayala, about her not applying the death penalty to our son’s case. So, it’s been difficult for us and we did not need that with everything going on,” Rafael Zaldivar said. “Thank God Gov. Rick Scott executed that order.”