State attorney seeks death penalty for triple murder suspect Keith Moses, legal analyst weighs in

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The suspect accused of killing a 9-year-old girl, a woman and an Orlando TV reporter could face the death penalty.

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The state attorney’s office said it would seek the death penalty against Keith Moses, who is accused of shooting five people in Pine Hills in February; three of them, including a 9-year-old girl and News 13 reporter, died.

The death penalty law has changed a lot recently. In 2016, you needed ten jurors to agree on the death penalty.

Read: State will seek death penalty against triple-murder suspect Keith Moses, state attorney says

But now, with the threshold lowered to eight jurors, WFTV legal analyst and attorney Bill Sheaffer said things could be different.

“It’s going to be much easier to get eight people to agree death is an appropriate sentence than twelve people to even agree where to eat lunch,” he said.

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Sheaffer said we could soon see an increase in the number of death penalty cases the state prosecutes.

State Attorney Monique Worrell said while she is unequivocally opposed to the death penalty, she is recommended to do so by the capital case review panel and therefore obligated to follow the law.

Read: Jury reconvenes next week in Volusia County Xbox murder trial after change in death penalty law

“I would’ve thought they would seek the death penalty, whether the scheme changed or not,” Sheaffer said. “What I’m certain (of) is will it increase the likelihood of getting a death sentence.”

Worrell’s office filed the recommendation Friday, and the panel had considered Moses’s age, the number and ages of the victims.

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