JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A St. Johns County judge has agreed to a jury's decision to give a man the death penalty after being convicted of killing a Florida State University student in 2010.
Judge Raul Zambrano agreed with the jury's 12-0 recommendation for the death penalty for Quentin Truehill, 26, during a sentencing hearing Friday morning in the murder of Vincent Binder (pictured below).
"I consider him to be irredeemable," State Attorney R.J. Larizza said. "He got what he deserved."
Truehill's family and his attorneys declined to comment, except to say they were disappointed in the outcome. The death sentence is automatically appealed.
Truehill didn't say anything or react at all as he learned his sentence. His mother, not far behind him in the courtroom, appeared devastated, but also didn't say anything.
A large number of Binder's family sat in the courtroom for Friday's sentencing but remained quiet.
Truehill was the first of three suspects to stand trial in the killing of Binder in 2010.
Truehill, Peter Hughes, 26, and Kentrell Johnson, 43, were jail escapees from Louisiana. Truehill had been convicted of robbing and killing another man.
Prosecutors said they broke out of jail and went on a crime spree.
Binder was abducted in Tallahassee and his body was dumped along State Road 16 in St. Augustine. It became known in court that Binder died of multiple stab wounds.
"There was a crime spree going on, and if there is ever an individual that would qualify for the death penalty, this is the one," Larizza said.
Binder was reported missing on April 8, 2010, by his friends, prompting an investigation into his disappearance.
The Tallahassee Police Department said evidence on Binder's phone and financial information led investigators the three fugitives. Truehill, Hughes and Johnson were apprehended by U.S. Marshals in April 2010.
Hughes and Johnson are awaiting trials. The state will also seek the death penalty in their cases if they're convicted.