GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – The sister of a 25-year-old veterinary tech who was brutally raped and murdered in Orange Park in 2007 choked back tears Saturday outside the Clay County courthouse.
“Finally, we can breathe and say justice has been served, and my dad can rest in peace,” an emotional Amber Cochlin said after a jury voted for a second time to convict Michael Renard Jackson of first-degree murder and rape in the death of her sister, Andrea Boyer.
RELATED: Jury convicts man of 2007 rape, brutal murder of vet tech in Clay County retrial
Prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty against Jackson, who raped, stabbed and strangled Boyer before beating her to death with a fire extinguisher in January 2007. The penalty phase begins Tuesday.
Investigators said Jackson’s DNA was collected from a rape kit done on Boyer’s body, which a co-worker found at the Wells Road clinic around 6:30 a.m. the day Boyer was killed.
Amber and Andrea’s father, Tom, who testified during the sentencing hearing at Jackson’s first trial in 2010, spent this second trial clinging to life in an ICU in Washington State. Amber and Andrea’s mother, Elizabeth, was there by his side.
Amber said her father was battling cancer and kidney failure.
“I know in my heart that he is holding on to finally hear that the jury has found Michael Jackson guilty of this crime,” Amber said, stifling a sob. “Our family has shed many tears through the years missing her birthdays, holidays and hearing her beautiful voice.”
With the verdict in, Amber told News4JAX that the family took Tom off life support Saturday afternoon.
“He will be with Andrea soon,” she wrote.
Amber confirmed that her father passed away on Monday morning.
In 2010, when Tom testified at the sentencing hearing for his daughter’s killer, he called her “daddy’s little girl.”
“She was the best friend for her mother and me, but most of all, she was my funny -- she was the smile on my face every time she was around,” an emotional Tom testified. “I feel so very lucky she was my daughter.”
Elizabeth sent Amber a statement to read following Saturday’s verdict:
It has been 16 years that our beautiful daughter, Andrea, was taken from us. She was a wonderful daughter and loved her family. She loved her job at the vet clinic.
Amber, Andrea’s older sister, said she will speak again after the penalty phase is over.
WATCH: Press play below to watch Amber Cochlin’s full statement after the guilty verdict
The jury in 2010 took just 20 minutes to recommend death for Jackson, but the vote was 9-3. This time, the jury recommendation would have to be unanimous.
Jackson was granted the retrial in Boyer’s murder when his conviction was thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court, which found Clay County deputies made prejudicial comments on the stand in his first trial.
After a week of testimony, the jury was excused to deliberate Friday afternoon and after asking several questions during deliberations, returned shortly after 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a verdict: Guilty on both counts.
Watch: Press play below to watch the guilty verdicts being read in court:
Jackson had been previously convicted of rape and burglary in the mid-1980s and sentenced to 30 years in prison. But he was released early and was not out for long before Boyer was killed.
The retrial in Boyer’s murder saw years of delays because of the pandemic and a fight over DNA evidence found on the fire extinguisher.