SARASOTA, Fla., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A jury in Sarasota, Fla., has recommended the death penalty for Joseph P. Smith for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.
After five hours of deliberation, the eight-woman, four-man jury, on a 10-2 vote, said Smith should face execution, rejecting a plea for life in prison without parole.
The decision was greeted with tears from Carlie's mother, who said the sentence can't be carried out quickly enough, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
"I want him dead," Susan Schorpen said. "I want him dead now."
Before setting the sentence, Circuit Judge Andrew D. Owens Jr. will hear a final plea from Smith's defense at a hearing scheduled for January.
During her closing remarks, prosecutor Debra Riva described Smith as a cold, calculated killer who acted on his worst impulses and deserved to die for his crimes.
