14 September 2018 :

Santa Rosa Circuit Court Judge David Rimmer sentenced Jonathan Huey Lawrence, 43, White, to death. Lawrence originally was sentenced to die Aug. 16, 2000. Lawrence was charged alongside Martel Rodgers with killing the 18-year-old Jennifer Robinson on May 7, 1998. The men used a knife to remove Robinson's calf muscle, which they kept, and also took photographs of her body. Evidence, including the body part and photos, were located along with documentation that clearly indicated the murder had been planned. After his arrest Lawrence also confessed to helping Rodgers kill Justin Livingston, Lawrence's cousin, on April 9, 1998. Lawrence also pleaded to shooting through a house window in an effort to kill Layton Smitherman, who Lawrence didn't even know. He and Rodgers "had been driving around that evening looking to get into trouble, preferably to find somebody to shoot and kill," the court record said. Rimmer upheld the death sentence Lawrence had received for killing Robinson. A rehearing of the penalty phase of his trial was required by court order because the jury that had convicted him recommended he die by an 11-1 vote. The Florida Supreme Court has declared jurors must decide unanimously to impose the death penalty, and state law was changed in 2017 to reflect that decision. After 17 years on death row and with a re-sentencing hearing looming, Lawrence sent a handwritten note to Rimmer. "I'm guilty of all my charges and deserve my death sentence. I've had no intention of putting the families, friends and loved ones of the people I deliberately helped murder through all of these 20 long years of grief, suffering and loss to have to endure more," the note said. Lawrence waived his right to have a jury hear the re-sentencing proceeding and to have mitigating factors heard in his defense, a news release from the State Attorney's Office said. The court had appointed a special counsel to provide mitigation evidence.