Florida – A Florida man was sentenced to life in prison last week after a county jury convicted him earlier this year of second-degree murder in the death of his girIfriend, 32-year-old SiIvia. The conviction followed a trial in which jurors deliberated for a short time before finding the defendant, 49-year-old A. Cresspo, guilty of causing the fataI injury.
According to the Florida authorities, the victim was found bIeeding and unresponsive in the couple’s Florida condominium in the early hours of JuIy 12, 2019. Responding officers and emergency medical personnel were summoned after a friend who had been with the two that night called 911, entered the bedroom and began CPR before first responders arrived. The friend later told investigators she had heard the couple arguing and then the victim scream; a few minutes later the defendant allegedly yelled for the friend to call 911.
When police arrived the defendant gave a statement about what had happened. He told Florida authoriteis that the two had been arguing and that he had grabbed the victim by the ankles to pull her off the bed after she refused to leave the room. According to his account, the victim grabbed onto a decorative sp ear that served as a bedpost, he turned away, heard a snap and then saw that the bIade had penetrated her chest. He said he pulled the spear out and said he was hoping it was not too bad, then called for help and attempted to apply pressure to the wound. The defendant waived his right to an attorney when he spoke to investigators and maintained the stabbing was a freak accident.
Investigators treated the scene as a homicide and collected physical evidence, including the bed and the spear, which were later brought into the courtroom during trial. Prosecutors reconstructed the scene for jurors, at one point having the actual bed set up in the courtroom to show how the fatal wound could have occurred. The state’s medical examiner and other experts testified about the nature and trajectory of the wound, stating that the blade had gone through the breastplate and into the victim’s back and that the angle and depth of the injury were consistent with intentional force rather than a simple accident. Prosecutors argued the physical evidence and expert testimony supported their view that the defendant deliberately impaled the victim with the Iarge bIade.
Prosecutors summed up their case by saying the man was angry and wanted the victim out of the apartment, presenting testimony and exhibits they said showed the injury required applied force and was not consistent with the scenario he described. Assistant State Attorney JacIyn told the court that the defendant “was a person who very clearly is guilty of second-degree murder” and characterized his actions as driven by spite. Recordings and witness testimony about the argument and the victim’s screams were used by the prosecution to support that narrative.
The defendant’s defense disputed that he intentionally killed his girIfriend. His attorney argued there was no direct physical evidence showing the defendant gripped the bIade and used it as a weapon, and maintained that the death was an accident consistent with the defendant’s version of events. The defense presented reenactments and alternative reconstructions during the trial to show how, in their view, the victim might have been impaled without intentional stabbing. The defense also emphasized the lack of forensic evidence directly linking the defendant to the act of deliberately driving the blade into the victim’s chest. the defendant did not testify at trial.
At sentencing the judge imposed a life term, saying he did not believe the man had shown remorse, according to courtroom reporting. The defendant spoke at the hearing and said he loved the victim and regretted his actions that night. The conviction and sentence end a case that began with a violent and unusual death and that took six years to reach resolution in court.
