MIAMI (WSVN) - The murder trial for a man accused of committing what officials described as a month-long crime spree in North Miami entered the second day of the penalty phase for his involvement in the shooting death of two people in North Miami, as the jury determines his fate.
Anthawn 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 court started Wednesday morning with testimony from two psychologists about Ragan’s childhood and mental state at the time of those crimes.
“What they found was in that moment of decision-making, in that intersection with the adults, their frontal lobe is kicked in, whereas for the adolescents, you see very little activity in the frontal lobe,” Dr. Karim Yamut said.
At the time the crimes were committed, Ragan was 19 years old. Medical experts also highlighted his troubled upbringing, saying that he was born to a teen mother and a father who was incarcerated shortly after his birth.
Other factors experts brought up included Ragan’s attention-deficit/hyperactivity and impulse-control disorder diagnoses, both of which went unmedicated.
Ragan’s defense noted his learning disabilities and other environmental factors.
“It was just what we referred to as a ‘criminal genic’ environment. It’s an environment that creates more and more risk factors for someone to commit a crime,” Yamut said.
Ragan’s fate now rests with the jury deciding between sentencing him to death or life in prison without parole.
Ragan is expected to take the stand as early as Thursday. The jury could also decide on sentencing then.
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