CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A jury declined to recommend the death penalty Wednesday for a man who raped, stabbed and strangled 25-year-old Andrea Boyer before beating her to death with a fire extinguisher in 2007.
The penalty phase for Michael Renard Jackson began Tuesday after he was found guilty Saturday in his retrial in Boyer’s murder.
A jury in 2010 took just 20 minutes to recommend death for Jackson, but the vote was 9-3. This time, for the jury to recommend death, the vote had to be unanimous.
Closing arguments were made Wednesday in the penalty phase as the same jury that found Jackson guilty last weekend weighed Jackson’s sentence — either life in prison or death.
Jurors then deliberated for just over 90 minutes Wednesday before returning to the courtroom and saying that they had unanimously found that the state had proven that aggravating factors existed in the case. But they also agreed that the defense had established mitigating circumstances.
For at least one of the jurors, the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating circumstances, and the jury, therefore, declined to recommend the death penalty.
Amber Cochlin, Boyer’s sister, said she respects the jury’s verdict.
“In the beginning when it first happened to my sister, yes, I wanted him dead,” Cochlin said. “I wanted an eye or an eye but that’s not who I am now and that’s not who my sister was, and I can’t put that on anybody else. It’s God’s place and God alone to take somebodies life when he’s ready.”
Jackson will be formally sentenced March 13. The state attorney’s office released a statement that reads:
“Michael Jackson has been convicted for the brutal murder and rape of Andrea Boyer. Her family and the Clay County community can finally rest in knowing that Jackson will never walk our streets again.”
Cochlin said she’s been able to forgive Jackson.
“He should’ve shown mercy for my sister, my mercy is him having a life without parole and he can never hurt anybody else again,” Cochlin said. “He’ll be in prison with his own kind and that’s where he belongs.”
This jury was not allowed to know about Jackson’s 2010 conviction. In fact, if the state brought it up during the penalty phase, it would have been an immediate mistrial.
The Florida Supreme Court threw out Jackson’s 2010 conviction after finding Clay County deputies made prejudicial comments on the stand.
The retrial in Boyer’s murder saw years of delays because of the pandemic and a fight over DNA evidence found on the suspected murder weapon, a fire extinguisher.
Boyer was found dead in January 2007 at the Wells Road veterinary clinic where she worked.
DNA collected from a rape kit done on Boyer’s body matched Jackson, who had been previously convicted of rape and burglary in the mid-1980s and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was released early and was not out for long before Boyer was killed.
Jackson showed no emotion when he heard, for a second time, that he had been convicted of Boyer’s rape and murder.
But he was very emotional Tuesday as evidence was presented in the penalty phase. He was seen crying several times.
There was a lot of emotion from Boyer’s side, as well.
“People who weren’t even alive then are affected by how Andrea was taken from us. Don’t walk with your headphones in by yourself. Be aware of your surroundings. Look around before you get out of the car even at our house,” said Boyer’s sister-in-law.
The jury could not weigh victim impact statements in with their decision. Jurors were told how loving, caring, and determined Boyer was.
The state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt only one of the aggravating factors, or something that made the situation worse.
And the jury also considered Jackson’s prior violent felony in the 1980s and how he was on probation when Boyer was killed in 2007.
“Using multiple weapons, the knife, hands, something tied around her neck, you know, that fire extinguisher ... don’t forget what Dr. Sherman said. He said there were two causes of death. The strangulation, but manual ligature, hands and something wrapped around their neck, plus the blunt force trauma, both independently were fatal,” said Assistant State Attorney Daniel Skinner. “He used that many weapons and killed her the way that he did. We will be arguing to you tomorrow morning that aggravating factor should be found by you unanimously.”
The defense did not hold back from getting into why Jackson should not get the death penalty.
“This is the most difficult and important decision that a juror can make. And that is whether another human being should die for their crimes spending,” said defense attorney Beth Sammons. “The rest of his life in prison is enough and a sufficient punishment in this case.”
In a 2018 interview with Jackson’s mother, she admitted to doing drugs while pregnant with him and exposing and giving him drugs as early as 1 year old.
“I just wasn’t a good mother,” said Betty Daniels, Jackson’s mother. “I was high myself, and I thought that would be something funny because it was his first birthday, and I would go put beer in his bottle, and I never really took care of him.”
Toxicologists explained Jackson was “bathing in chemicals” when his mother was pregnant with him. They said he showed signs of brain dysfunction at 5 months old.
“At 19 months, he fell from a second-story window,” said clinical forensic psychologist Dr. Jethro Toomer. “A person who experiences day-to-day trauma, as Jackson has, it actually changes the shape of the brain.”
The state argued this witness never spoke with Jackson and does not know anything about the crimes he committed.
“He would know that raping someone is wrong?” prosecutor Pam Hazel asked.
Toomer responded, “Yes.”
The defense replayed a video from Jackson’s aunt’s testimony where she begged his mother to let Jackson stay with her after he was molested by older women.
Jackson ducked down, wiping tears, as the video played.
“MJ really was a good kid, and he just had a lot of issues and problems he never dealt with. I would ask to give him another chance,” said Gayle Duhart, his aunt.
Prosecutors read a statement written by Boyer’s father, who died over the weekend. The statement said that he felt lucky Boyer was his daughter and that this situation still filled him with questions.
“Why did this have to happen? Why? I had just left her,” a prosecutor read from the statement.
Cochlin said in honoring her sister, she advocates for victims of rape and helps families through trial processes.
