A father will spend the rest of his days in prison after admitting in court that he stabbed his 3-year-old daughter and tried to kill his 12-year-old sister.
Prosecutors in Seminole County, Florida, will decline to seek the death penalty for the murder of Eva Bravo Herrera, in return for defendant Juan Bravo Torres, who pleaded guilty this Wednesday.
Authorities argued that it was for the best, nothing that the surviving child would have had to testify if this had gone to court. Police stated that the 12-year-old girl said she woke up after being attacked and saw his sister on the floor of the hallway. By avoiding her trial, authorities hope to prevent her from reliving her. In a statement, prosecutor Phil Archer said, “We believe that the horrifying, calculated and premeditated actions of Juan Bravo Torres in the murder of Eva Bravo Herrera deserve a jury to hand down the death penalty. “However, in making this difficult decision, we focused on the mother’s desire to consider the trauma a lawsuit could have on her daughter. Our law enforcement partners support this resolution.” As a result, my office submitted an intention to waive the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea and life imprisonment. We will vigorously oppose any attempt to do so.
Circuit Judge Melissa Sout sentenced Bravo Torres to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and 30 years for first-degree murder.
As previously reported, police said a 12-year-old boy woke up and with a knife he attacked Bravo-Torres. At first, she thought he was going to grab the necklace but instead cut her throat. The accused Bravo-Torres allegedly went to get another knife.