JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The sentencing hearing will begin Monday morning for a Jacksonville man found guilty of first-degree murder in the plot to have his wife killed in 2019.
Jerry Burns, who is facing the death penalty, was found guilty Friday of plotting to have his wife, Velvet Burns, killed.
Recommended Videos
Velvet Burns was stabbed 39 times at her home on the Westside on May 9, 2019.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said there is “zero doubt in the world that this was a pre-meditated killing.”
According to prosecutors, Jerry Burns worked with his mistress, Amanda Love, to hire someone to murder his wife. That someone happened to be Love’s longtime on-again, off-again partner, Stephen Hand.
Hand and Love were both convicted of killing Velvet Burns. Hand pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison in 2022.
Under a new state law that went into effect last year, the jury does not need to reach a unanimous decision to recommend the death sentence.
The recommendation requires at least an 8 to 4 split, in favor of execution.
Florida is one of just three states out of the 27 that impose the death penalty - to not require unanimity.
MORE | Man convicted in murder of Jacksonville woman testifies her husband paid him to stab her to death
During the sentencing hearing, a warden is expected to talk about Jerry Burn’s positive impact at the jail, including his work as an electrician.
The hearing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
