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Convicted killer to judge: 'Give me the death penalty'

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A man convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 19-year-old girl three years ago shocked a Seminole County jury on Tuesday when he begged them to put him to death.

William Davis III was found guilty of raping and killing Fabiana Malave. On Tuesday, Davis didn't apologize for the killing, but he did say he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a death for a death. There is nothing that I can do that will ever bring Ms. Malave back to her mother and her sisters, and her cousins and her brothers, nephews, nieces, and I firmly believe that you should give an advisory sentencing recommendation to the judge giving me the death penalty," said Davis on the stand.

Davis admitted he'd been convicted of crimes eight times, and he told the 12 jurors he has been in and out of prison and doesn't like it there.

"I do not want to, let me rephrase that, I will not do the next 40-50 years of my life in prison," Davis said.

Davis, 34, talked about his rocky relationship with his abusive father. He also talked about his mental health and admitted how time and time again, he'd stopped taking his medications.

When Davis' attorney asked him how he felt about raping and killing Malave after kidnapping her from the car dealership where she worked, Davis said, "I'm ashamed. In all honesty, her life had just begun. I can remember when I was 19."

However, Davis' family begged the jury for mercy during his sentencing hearing. Some members of Davis' family even testified about his troubled childhood.

Davis' stepmother, Annette Davis, testified that he had been stealing since he was 4 years old. She said he was punished, but continued to steal, even claiming he lied all the time and had done mean things to classmates.

Annette Davis, a retired school teacher, told the jury that Davis was hit with a belt by his father and witnessed his father's attacks on her. She said she would have left with she and her husband's three children, but Davis was not her son, and she believed she couldn't take him from his father.

Annette Davis said she didn't want to leave William Davis alone with his father, so she stayed.

Annette Davis went on to tell the jury that William Davis' father had beaten and tried to strangle her, and that he forced her to have sex.

The story sounds very similar to what William Davis is convicted of doing to Malave three years ago, after kidnapping her from the car dealership where she worked and where he had bought a car.

Davis laughed when his stepmother talked about how he played baseball, but did not make the basketball team, and he appeared to smile when she took the stand.

His stepmother's father, John Sink, begged the jury for mercy.

"I would hate to see the wrong person put to death. To me, this thing that Billy did is by another, person not the person that I knew. I've come here to ask for mercy," Sink said.

Davis' stepmother and Sink apologized and expressed sorrow to Malave's family, saying they pray for her family every day.