Jurors on Thursday spared the life of a man convicted last month of the brash murder of a small-time drug dealer over a decade ago, deliberating for just over an hour and extending a growing streak of distaste by Miami-Dade jurors of sending defendants to death row.
In a hushed courtroom at Miami-Dade’s downtown criminal courthouse, a court clerk read aloud the 12-member jury’s decision to send convicted murderer Anthawn Ragan Jr., to prison for the rest of his life with no chance of parole. The jury’s only other choice was death.
Ragan, 30, who sat quietly for most of the week-long trial, often visibly shaking, showed some emotion after the verdict was read, bowing his head slightly. His mother was visibly shaken, sobbing under a burgundy-colored hoodie, her face hidden.
The family of Ragan’s victim, Luis Miguel Perez, sat silently. His mother Madrestia Figueroa spoke to the media briefly outside the courtroom…