All of us have suffered the tragedy of losing a loved one to murder. We intimately understand the deep pain caused by such loss and the challenges that families face in rebuilding their lives. Our criminal justice system must be responsive to the needs of murder victims’ families. Sadly, Duval County’s use of the death penalty has too often caused further pain by forcing murder victims’ families to endure a long, complex, and error-prone legal process.
Prosecutors and other officials need to be honest about the reality of the death penalty: it’s a false promise. A death penalty case drags families through long trials, appeals, and reversals—in short, constant uncertainty that leaves them frustrated and angry. That’s especially true in Florida. In just this year, the state’s death penalty law has been struck down as unconstitutional twice. Officials keep promising that the death penalty works and can deliver justice, but as these promises fall short time and time again, murder victims’ families are the ones left to suffer.
The District Attorney’s Office in Duval County frequently pursues the death penalty with little regard for its potentially harmful impact on murder victims’ families. Duval County is responsible for a quarter of death sentences in Florida, despite being only 5% of the state’s population. Of the over 3,000 counties nationwide, Duval County is an extreme outlier in its use of the death penalty. It is one of only 16 counties that produced five or more death sentences between 2010 and 2015.
The lengths to which Duval County will go in its pursuit of the death penalty has been on display after the 2013 murder of Shelby Farah. Despite her mother’s request that her family be spared a death penalty case and the lengthy process it entails, prosecutors continue to seek it. “Since my daughter’s murder,” Darlene Farah recently wrote, “I have begged and pleaded with the prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table, accept a plea deal and end this painful process for my family. At every step of the process, our wishes have been ignored.”
In pursuing the death penalty, Duval County often has caused additional harm to murder victims’ families. We, the undersigned, therefore call on the State Attorney’s Office for the 4th Judicial Circuit covering Duval County to immediately suspend use of the death penalty.
56 murder victims’ family members, listed below alphabetically, joined the letter.
Mary Ansheles (South Portland, ME)
Uncle Jullius was murdered
Joan Ansheles (Arlington, VA)
Relative G. Grischele was murdered
Kelly Parker Badeau (Tucson, AZ)
Father Julius Frederick Parker Jr. was murdered
Patricia Bane (Atlantic, VA)
Uncle Ambrose Bane was murdered
Henrietta Beckman (Hartford, CT)
Son Randy Beckman was murdered
Ernest Bohn (North Newton, KS)
Sister Helen Bohn Klassen was murdered
SueZann Bosler (Hallandale Beach, FL)
Father Bill Bosler was murdered
Elizabeth Brancato (Torrington, KS)
Sister Barbara O. McKitis was murdered
Kelli Cervantes (Brooklyn, NY)
Mother Noni Cervantes was murdered
Cedric Clarkson (St. Louis, MO)
Son was murdered
Nannetta Cook (Junction City, KS)
Grandmother Mary Mae Johnson was murdered
Madeleine Dewar (San Antonio, TX)
Son Andrew Hughes was murdered
Ursula Douglas (Charlotte, NC)
Relative T.J. Price Jr. was murdered
Nadine Douglas (Rock Hill, SC)
Relative T.J. Price Jr. was murdered
Cousar Douglas (Rock Hill, SC)
Relative Martha Houze was murdered
Deirdre Douglas-Hubbard (Charleston, SC)
Great grandmother and cousin were murdered
Carol Dreiling (Alexander, NC)
Parents Joan and Fred Dreiling were murdered
Judith Elane (Little Rock, AR)
Brother Ronald Eugene Schlatter was murdered
Darlene Farah (Jacksonville, FL)
Daughter Shelby Farah was murdered
Kelly and Celeste Fitzgerald (Chatham, NJ)
Cousin Ann McGovern was murdered
Kristin Froehlich (Wilmington, DE)
Brother David Froehlich was murdered
Joan Gauker (Monroe, NC)
Granddaughter was murdered
Aba Gayle (Silverton, OR)
Daughter Catherine Blount was murdered
McKinley Griffin (Oxford, PA)
Aunt Martha Griffin was murdered
Mary Head (Lawrence, KS)
Sister Patricia Erikson was murdered
Judith Hessman (Dodge City, KS)
Sister Mary Mel Eesa Rains was murdered
Henry Hubbard (Charlotte, NC)
Nephew T.J. Price Jr. was murdered
Marietta Jaeger Lane (Punta Gorda, FL)
Daughter Susan Marie Jaeger was murdered
Laurie Juedes (Redmond, WA)
Brother Ken Juedes was murdered
Miriam Kelle (Beatrice, NE)
Brother was murdered
Carolyn Lee (Pensacola, FL)
Mother Dorothy Edwards was murdered
Wilma Loganbill (Hesston, KS)
Son was murdered
Dawn Mancarella (West Haven, CT)
Mother Joyce Masury was murdered
Deldelp Medina (San Francisco, CA)
Aunt Magali Medina was murdered
Carolyn Metzler (Albuquerque, NM)
Relative Andy Lavern Smith was murdered
Jean Parks (Fletcher, NC)
Sister Elizabeth Parks Rosenberg was murdered
Bill Pelke (Anchorage, AK)
Grandmother Ruth Elizabeth Pelke was murdered
Bill Piper (Pennington, NJ)
Mother Arlene Piper was murdered
Corinne Rhodes (Rutland, MA)
Partner was murdered
Myra Rivera (Caguas, PR)
Daughter was murdered
Carolyn Saenz Zimmerman (Topeka, KS)
Father Lawrence Saenz was murdered
Vicki Schieber (New Market, MD)
Daughter Shannon Schieber was murdered
Judith Scott (Las Cruces, NM)
Aunt Ruth Scott was murdered
Andrew Smith (Raleigh, NC)
Son Daniel was murdered
Mark Soehner (Berkley, MI)
Sister Anne Soehner was murdered
Bonita Spikes (Upper Marlboro, MD)
Husband Michael was murdered
Elizabeth Stein (Houston, TX)
Cousin Gary Stein was murdered
Anne Stone (Farmington, CT)
Son Ralph Stone was murdered
Rev. Jack Sullivan Jr. (Raleigh, NC)
Sister Jennifer McCoy was murdered
Michelle VanDeRee (Columbia, TN)
Relative Edgar Pillow was murdered
Molly Weigel (Pennington, NJ)
Mother-in-law Arlene Piper was murdered
Terry Werner (Lincoln, NE)
Cousin Janet Mesner was murdered
Theresa Westerfield (Redington Shores, FL)
Uncle Charles Westerfield was murdered
Deborah Wiese (Port Townsend, WA)
Sister and Brother-in-law Lynn and Richard Ehlenfeldt were murdered
Hannah Yoo (Chicago, IL)
Father Kenneth Yoo was murdered
