Kadel Piedrahita’s decision to take the witness stand during his trial backfired. He was sentenced to life in prison Thursday by a judge who said he didn’t believe the convicted murderer’s testimony.
During sentencing, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian called Piedrahita’s disputed testimony that the victim had a gun, an aggravating factor in his decision. The judge also discarded claims by defense attorney Elsa Fernandez that Piedrahita, 46, had been physically abused as a child and he ignored a plea to sentence her client to a minimum of 25 years.
“This was a cold-blooded murder,” said Milian. “This is an outrageous abuse of the right to bear a firearm.”
Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Arvind Singh found Piedrahita’s testimony so disturbing that he asked the judge to issue a life sentence — despite earlier suggesting 25 to 40 years was sufficient.
Milian’s decision came after statements from murder victim Alexis Palencia’s children, his wife and his brother. Palencia’s wife Iris Kennedy read a statement from her children, telling how they missed their father’s hugs. They called life without him an “unbearable heaviness.”