Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Jury recommends death for killer of mother, daughter
Man’s lawyers said he suffered from paranoid delusions
A jury on Wednesday unanimously recommended the death penalty for a felon who shot and killed an 11-year-old girl and her mother — an act of “unforgivable” violence his lawyers blamed on mental illness.
Marlin Joseph should be executed for the murders of his
West Palm Beach housemates, 36-year-old Kaladaa Crowell and her daughter, Kyra Inglett, the jury of six men and six women decided.
Palm Beach County Circuit
Judge Cheryl Caracuzzo said she will sentence Joseph, 28, on
April 23. She could still impose a life sentence despite the jury’s recommendation for capital punishment.
Kenneth Crowell, father of Kaladaa and grandfather of Kyra, told reporters that the jury got it right.
“It was a horrendous murder, torture, execution of our babies,” said Crowell, standing with Kaladaa’s mother, Lajunia. “Kaladaa didn’t deserve that. Kyra did not deserve that.”
Florida law requires all 12 jurors to agree in order for a criminal to be executed. No one has received a death sentence for a Palm Beach County murder since 2002.
Joseph’s lawyers argued he should not be treated like a serial killer, or a monster who buried his victims alive.
“The worst of the worst is what the death penalty is for,” attorney Sean Wagner said, telling the jurors they each had to make a “moral” decision with their vote.
But prosecutors Jo Wilensky, Richard Clausi and Adrienne Ellis urged the panel to send Joseph to death row. They said the Dec. 28, 2017, shootings were “heinous, atrocious, or cruel,” for the way Joseph fired at the victims’ heads. And they argued the killings were done “cold, calculated, and premeditated manner” without any reason.
Joseph targeted his victims because he was angry over the way Kyra was treating his then-8-year-old daughter, according to the prosecution.
“Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable,” Clausi said, quoting from playwright Tennessee Williams. “Deliberate cruelty is what took Kaladaa’s life. Deliberate cruelty is what took Kyra’s life. And deliberate cruelty is why we’re asking you to deliver the punishment that fits the crime, with regards to what he did on that day. And that is a recommendation of death.”
Joseph’s lawyers said he suffered from paranoid delusions and his fears caused him to pull the trigger. They did not use an insanity defense in the trial and instead insisted that he was not the culprit.
Pleading for a life sentence, the defense told the jurors that Joseph did not make his victims suffer. Wagner said Kyra likely was unconscious right after she was shot.
“There isn’t any evidence that Marlin Joseph shot her in the back and the hip before he shot her in the head, we just don’t know that,” Wagner argued, with cocounsel Fred Susaneck.
As for Crowell, the lawyer said Joseph “didn’t torture her, he didn’t taunt her with her own death … he shot her and then shot her again and that’s terrible and saying that makes me sick to my stomach.”
On Tuesday, the defense attorneys tried to show the jurors a more favorable side of Joseph in their bid for mercy. It wasn’t enough.
They presented a series of family photos and videos, including footage from a family birthday dinner at Benihana restaurant, when Joseph sat at a table with Kyra and her mom.
They presented newspaper clippings and videotape from Joseph’s days as a high school football running back, before poor grades cut short a promising future on the field.
And they presented letters from two of Joseph’s three children, read in court by Joseph’s mother, Robin Denson.
“I want to wish my hero a happy birthday and Father’s Day,” Marlin Jr. wrote. “I cried because you are not here.”
Denson, who was dating Crowell before the tragedy, said she recalls how the couple noticed Joseph’s odd behavior, but they missed the warning signs in the weeks before the killings.
“We didn’t think it would lead up to what happened,” Denson told the jury.
She said that before her son began struggling, he “was so much into the Bible” and worked in construction.
Joseph’s aunt, co-workers, mothers of his children, former elementary school assistant principal, and former John I. Leonard High School football coach also shared their memories about him.
“Marlin was a hard worker, he was caring, he was a gentle giant,” Wayne Monroe, his coach, said. After he and the jurors watched a video of Joseph, wearing uniform No. 24, run for a touchdown, Monroe broke down in tears.
“It’s hard looking at that video,” he said, after wiping his eyes with a tissue. “It’s hard to watch, especially in this situation.”