MIAMI (WSVN) - A jury has sentenced a man to life in prison following two days of testimony, more than a decade after he was accused of committing what officials described as a month-long crime spree in North Miami that included the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man.
7News cameras captured the jury foreperson as she revealed their decision in court, Thursday afternoon.
“We, the jury, find Anthawn Ragan should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole,” she said.
The jury’s decision was read out in court just hours after they listened to final arguments from attorneys.
In those final arguments, the defense and prosecution were trying to convince the jury to decide between a life sentence or the death penalty for Ragan.
“Mr. Ragan, this November 2013, left behind his path of destruction,” the prosecutor said.
“We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to go that far,” Ragan’s defense attorney told jurors.
Ragan was found guilty of first-degree murder on April 3, after surveillance footage showed him confronting and opening fire on 21-year-old Luis Perez in the stairwell of a Motel 7 in 2013.
Ragan appeared in court Tuesday in front of the same jurors who found him guilty. They heard testimony from Ragan’s father and uncle, as well as several of his alleged victims.
The jury listened to testimony from psychologists Wednesday who spoke to Ragan’s childhood and mental state at the time of those crimes.
The defense’s arguments to jurors centered on Ragan being born to a teen mother and a father who was incarcerated and that he struggled with mental illness growing up. He was just a few weeks away from turning 19 years old at the time of the crimes.
“I say no. I say no, a thousand times no,” his defense attorney said.
The state’s prosecution did not back down on seeking the death penalty.
“If you follow the law, you will come to the right and just decision,” the prosecutor said.
The jury ultimately decided against the death penalty, instead choosing to recommend life in prison.
Ragan will stand trial next year for another murder, in the shooting death of 10-year-old Aaron Vu inside a North Miami nail salon.
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