USA - Angel Gabriel Cuz Choc + victims (FL)

USA - Florida. Judge sentences Angel Cuz Choc to death

February 6, 2026:

February 6, 2026 - Florida. Judge sentences Angel Cuz Choc to death.

The man was found guilty of murdering Amalia Choc Coc De Pec and her daughter Estrella in 2024.

The Guatemalan man convicted of killing his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter at their home in 2024 has been sentenced to death by Hillsborough County judge Michelle Sisco.

The final sentencing came down Friday morning, nearly four months after a jury recommended the death penalty for Cuz Choc in a 10-2 vote (see HoC 09/10/2025).

Cuz Choc was convicted of murdering 36-year-old Amalia Choc Coc De Pec and her daughter, Estrella, in what prosecutors described as a heinous, cruel and torturous crime.

During the trial, the medical examiner had testified that both victims were alive and conscious during the attack and suffered for several minutes before they died.

Amalia’s sister and Estrella’s aunt, Dolores Coc Choc, also took the stand during the trial. Through tears, she described Amalia as a hardworking mother and grandmother who was supporting her 3 children and 2 grandchildren still living in Guatemala, saving money in hopes of reuniting the family.

Hillsborough County deputies responded around 5:30 p.m. on April 24, 2024, to a mobile home in Dover. They arrived to find 36-year-old Amalia Choc Coc de Pec dead in the backyard and her daughter, 4-year-old Estrella Pec Coc, dead in the bathtub.

At the time, Sheriff Chad Chronister described it as an “extremely gruesome scene” with bloody clothes and handprints throughout.

Cuz Choc was arrested as a suspect after a day-long manhunt by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies. Bodycam footage captured deputies finding him in a heavily wooded area near I-4.

Detectives conducted interviews with Cuz Choc and his 2 brothers, whom he allegedly called while he was on the run.

According to an arrest warrant, Cuz Choc called 1 of his brothers at 4:03 p.m. — 23 minutes after the murders reportedly happened. That brother told detectives Cuz Choc’s reason for the murders was that Amalia was “out with a friend for 3 hours instead of her allotted hour and a half,” the document reads.

Detectives say Cuz Choc called his 2nd brother around 7:10 p.m. and gave him specific details about the crime scene, including that the child was stabbed in the bathtub.

The person who called 911 upon discovering the crime scene was identified as a man who lived in the home with Cuz Choc and the 2 victims. He reportedly told detectives that Cuz Choc and Amalia “constantly argued” and that Cuz Choc had physically battered his partner a month prior.

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