[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO, MO.

[Rick Halperin]

May 21



TEXAS:

Texas House initially passes "Lauren's Law"



"Lauren's Law" named in honor of the Lauren Landavazo who was killed 2 1/2 
years ago in Wichita Falls is one step closer to the desk of Governor Greg 
Abbott.

Monday evening the Texas House voted for the legislation that could change the 
age for capital punishment.

The bill would raise the age of a victim where the suspect could be prosecuted 
for capital murder from under the age of 10 to under the age of 15.

In Lauren Landavazo's case, she was 13-years-old when Kody Lott shot and killed 
her while she was walking home from school

Lott was sentenced to life in prison, but by state law, he will be eligible for 
parole after he has served 30 calendar years.

But if "Lauren's Law" gets signed into law, a person charged with capital 
murder of a someone under the age of 15 will no longer be eligible for parole.

The Texas House will have to vote on the bill once more on Tuesday.

After that, it will be sent back to the Senate where the author, Senator Pat 
Fallon, will decide if he wants to accept the amendment that was added by the 
house. If he accepts it, the bill will be sent to the governor's desk.

(source: texomashomepage.com)








SOUTH CAROLINA:

Jerome Jenkins, other death row inmates may never be executed



Jerome Jenkins, the Horry County man sentenced to death last week for the 2015 
Sunhouse robberies and murders may never be executed due to the nation-wide 
shortage of the lethal injection, according to Horry County Solicitor, Jimmy 
Richardson.

Out of the 30 people on death row in South Carolina, five are from Horry and 
Georgetown Counties, including Jenkins. However, since the company that 
manufactured the lethal injection stopped producing the drug, no one has been 
executed in South Carolina since 2011.

"Lethal injection, for now, is a thing of the past," Horry County Solicitor, 
Jimmy Richardson said.

South Carolina legislators have tried to solve the lethal injection issue with 
bills that would bring back the firing squad and make electrocution the default 
execution method, but so far, none have passed.

Richardson says the death penalty was banned in the '70s after the Supreme 
Court ruled electrocution too gruesome, and as a result, the lethal injection 
was introduced. He says if they bring back some of the old execution methods, 
the Supreme Court could ban the death penalty again.

"You're walking on this tight wire of the 8th Amendment of the U.S. 
Constitution which says this is a cruel and unusual punishment, and that's sort 
of what has the legislators stumped."

Richardson says even though South Carolina doesn't currently have the means to 
execute someone, he won't stop pushing for the death penalty when it's 
warranted, like in Jerome Jenkins's case.

"Here, we very judiciously use the death penalty, but we do use it on the worst 
of the worst, and then once they get up on death row, that's up to our elected 
legislators to figure out what to do with them at that point, realizing that 
the lethal injection may not be an option," Richardson said.

"The only other solution for us is to give in and say we're just not going to 
seek it anymore, and I'm not willing to do that."

Richardson says not pursuing the death penalty in certain cases where it's 
needed would cause a downward spiral for prosecutors.

"Once you get down to the highest penalty (being) life (instead of the death 
penalty), there will be the same attacks on that sentence as there are 
presently on the death penalty. Then it will be life is too much, 30 years is 
too much, 20 years is too much, and I don't think we need to go down that 
slope," Richardson said.

Richardson says even before the lethal injection shortage, it would take 
decades for someone on death row to be executed because of the appeals process.

He adds that even if the inmate is not executed, being put on death row is 
still a worse punishment than life in prison, because death row inmates are 
only allowed out of their cell for 1 hour a day.

(source: WBTW news)








FLORIDA----impending execution

Catholic bishops push for stay of execution for convicted serial killer



Days before a convicted serial killer is executed, Florida's Catholic bishops 
are pushing the governor to change his mind.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis 
Monday afternoon, urging him to commute the death sentence of Bobby Joe Long to 
life without parole. Long is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 23 at 
6:00 p.m.

He pleaded guilty to 8 homicides and was sentenced to death in 1985. Last 
month, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Long's death warrant, the governor's 1st.

The head of the bishops' conference said while the group doesn't condone Long's 
crimes, there is worth to his life.

"Even those who have done great harm have inherent dignity and great worth. We 
hope that by staying this execution, choosing life over death, we can end that 
cycle of violence that continues to be perpetuated," said Michael Sheedy, 
Florida Conference of Bishops Executive Director.

Long's attorney recently attempted to stop his client's execution, appealing to 
the Florida Supreme Court, arguing Long is mentally ill and executing him would 
be unconstitutional.

The court denied that appeal last week.

(source: WTXL news)

***************************

Convicted serial killer Bobby Joe Long to be executed Thursday in Florida



Convicted serial killer Robert Joseph Long, also known as Bobby Joe Long, is 
scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison, after 
the Florida Supreme Court rejected a motion for a stay of execution.

Long, now 65, pleaded guilty to killing eight women in the Tampa Bay area 
during an eight-month period in 1984. He was sentenced to death in 1985 for the 
murder of 22-year-old Michelle Denise Simms. He also claimed to have raped at 
least 40 women.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Long’s death warrant April 24. It was the first death 
warrant DeSantis signed since taking office.

Long’s attorney filed a motion in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court earlier 
this month requesting a stay of execution. The motion stated Long is mentally 
ill and suffers from a form of epilepsy because of a traumatic brain injury.

The motion also claimed Long’s execution amounts to cruel and unusual 
punishment because the drugs used in the procedure may cause him to have a 
seizure. Judge Michelle Sisco rejected the motion.

Similarly, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected all claims in the 
motion.

“The court correctly determined that Long’s claim was untimely and procedurally 
barred because he had been aware of his brain injuries since the time of his 
penalty phase and unjustifiably waited until his death warrant was signed to 
attempt to litigate this issue,” the Supreme Court determination stated.

Long’s execution is scheduled for 6 p.m.

***********************

By the numbers: Florida's death penalty



Serial killer Bobby Joe Long is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Thursday at 
Florida State Prison in the 1984 murder of Michelle Simms in Hillsborough 
County.

Long would be the 1st death row inmate executed since Gov. Ron DeSantis took 
office in January. But Florida has a long history of executions after the death 
penalty was reinstated in 1976, following a 4-year hiatus stemming from a U.S. 
Supreme Court ruling.

Here is a by-the-numbers look at the death penalty in Florida, according to 
information from the state Department of Corrections:

•1924: The year Frank Johnson became the 1st inmate executed in the state’s 
electric chair. A 2000 law allowed the use of lethal injection.

•2: The number of prisons where men on death row are housed. They are Florida 
State Prison and Union Correctional Institution.

•1: The number of prisons where women on death row are housed. They are held at 
Lowell Annex.

•97: Number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The 
1st execution after reinstatement was of John Spenkelink in 1979.

•28: Number of inmates executed under former Gov. Rick Scott, the most of any 
governor since the death penalty was reinstated.

•8: Largest number of executions in a year since the death penalty was 
reinstated. That occurred in 1984 and 2014.

•0: The number of executions that occurred in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 2007.

•44.9: Average age of inmates executed.

•341: Number of death row inmates as of Monday.

•202: Number of white males on death row.

•127: Number of black males on death row.

•9: Number of male death row inmates classified as “other.”

•1: Number of white females on death row.

•2: Number of black females on death row.

•80: Age of oldest death row inmate, Nelson Serrano, who was convicted of 
murdering 4 people in 1997 in Polk County. Next oldest is William Kelley, 76, 
who was convicted in a Highlands County case.

•27: Age of youngest death row inmate, Michael Bargo, who was convicted in a 
2011 murder in Marion County. Next youngest is David Sparre, 27, who was 
convicted in a Duval County case.

•7: The number of life sentences Bobby Joe Long is serving for murders, along 
with the death sentence in the murder of Michelle Simms.

•150: The amount in dollars paid to the executioner, who is allowed to remain 
anonymous under state law.

(source for both: Fort Myers News-Press)

******************

Florida's Supreme Court Reconsiders Death Penalty Sentencing System



More than 100 inmates condemned to death could face a major upheaval, as a 
revamped Florida Supreme Court ponders whether to undo a 2016 ruling that 
allowed nearly 1/2 of the state’s death row prisoners to have their death 
sentences revisited.

With a conservative bloc of justices led by Chief Justice Charles Canady now in 
the majority, the court has begun the process of reconsidering whether changes 
to Florida’s death penalty-sentencing system should continue being applied 
retroactively to cases dating to 2002.

The court’s reopening of the retroactivity issue, which came in an April 24 
order, sent shockwaves through the state’s death-penalty legal community.

“This is judicial activism. The right has always complained about judicial 
activism and not wanting judicial activist judges. But when you don’t respect 
precedent, that really is the judicial activism,” Marty McClain, a lawyer who 
has represented hundreds of defendants in death-penalty cases, told The News 
Service of Florida in a telephone interview.

The high court’s latest move is part of continuing fallout from a January 2016 
U.S. Supreme Court decision, in a case known as Hurst v. Florida, which found 
the state’s method of sentencing prisoners to death was unconstitutional.

McClain and other defense lawyers who specialize in the death penalty point to 
a legal principle, known as “stare decisis,” in which judicial decisions are 
based on precedent. Courts rarely depart from the doctrine.

“The reason for precedent is to bring stability and predictability to the law. 
And when you stop respecting precedent, it’s like, what? There’s no stability. 
You have no idea what you can and cannot do,” McClain said.

But Brad King, the state attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit, which is based 
in Ocala, told the News Service that reversing the current process “will no 
more destabilize the law than the current, crazy, retroactivity rule has 
destabilized the law.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling found the state’s process of allowing judges, 
instead of juries, to find the facts necessary to impose the death penalty was 
an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury.

The decision in the Hurst case, premised on a 2002 case known as Ring v. 
Arizona, led to a change in Florida law requiring unanimous jury findings of 
fact and unanimous jury recommendations for death sentences to be imposed.

The revised law, however, did not address the issue of whether the unanimous 
requirements should be applied retroactively to older cases, so the state court 
stepped in.

In a pair of critical death penalty decisions issued Dec. 22, 2016, the Florida 
Supreme Court decided the Hurst decision should apply retroactively to cases 
that were final after the 2002 Ring ruling. Re-sentencing should only be an 
option for cases in which jury recommendations for death were not unanimous, 
the court also decided.

"In this instance … the interests of finality must yield to fundamental 
fairness," the majority wrote in the case of John Mosley, convicted of 
murdering his girlfriend and their infant child in 2004. "Because Florida's 
capital sentencing statute has essentially been unconstitutional since Ring in 
2002, fairness strongly favors applying Hurst, retroactively to that time."

But in a sharply worded dissent joined by Justice Ricky Polston, Canady scolded 
the majority for departing from precedent in the 5-2 decision that applied 
Hurst retroactively.

As it did in previous cases, the court should have viewed Hurst as “an 
evolutionary refinement,” and thus “a new rule that should not be given 
retroactive application,” Canady argued.

“A decision that simply ignored existing precedent will rarely be entitled to 
any more weight as a precedent than the weight it afforded to the authority it 
ignored,” he wrote.

Canady, a former Republican state representative and congressman from Lakeland, 
at the time was 1 of 2 justices who frequently parted ways with the court’s 
more-liberal majority.

But three members of the longstanding court majority, Barbara Pariente, R. Fred 
Lewis and Peggy Quince, were required to step down early this year because of a 
mandatory retirement age. New Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis quickly replaced 
them with justices Robert Luck, Barbara Lagoa and Carlos Muniz.

As a result, Canady now presides over a conservative bloc of 6 jurists, with 
Justice Jorge Labarga the lone holdover from the old majority.

Late last month, the court ordered lawyers in the case of death row inmate 
Duane Eugene Owen to file briefs addressing the retroactivity issue.

In a brief filed last week, lawyers for Owen argued that retroactivity should 
apply to all death penalty cases, not only to those that were final after Ring 
was decided. That would mean also applying the new sentencing requirements to 
cases that became final before 2002.

But they also stressed that the court, at a minimum, should keep in place the 
current process of reconsidering cases after 2002. They said the analyses 
involved in whether to overturn precedent “bolster the strong presumption in 
favor” of maintaining the process.

Declaring Hurst “entirely non-retroactive would do serious injustice to the 
scores of capital defendants who have spent countless time and energy 
challenging their unconstitutional death sentences,” they added.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 154 of the state’s death row 
prisoners were eligible for resentencing following the 2016 rulings. Since 
then, 29 inmates have had death sentences overturned and received sentences of 
life in prison without parole, and four have been resentenced to death. Many 
prosecutors may not have sought the death penalty a second time, because the 
cases were too old or because juries were narrowly split on whether to 
recommend death the 1st time.

“I think the issue comes down, in my view, to justice versus procedural 
finality. And this court seems to be more concerned about procedural finality,” 
said Florida International University law professor Stephen Harper, executive 
director of the school’s Florida Center for Capital Representation.

But prosecutor King, who was instrumental in crafting the state’s response to 
Hurst, said the Florida majority’s 2016 decisions ignored long-standing 
precedent on when retroactivity should be applied.

The Canady court will have to balance “which is more important --- having the 
law stable and not changing the law, or having the law be right,” said King, 
whose circuit is made up of Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter counties.

The court’s order for briefs in the Owen case has rattled defense lawyers, some 
of whom are scurrying to seek rehearings for Death Row inmates in the hope of 
having sentences reduced to life in prison before the court finalizes a 
decision on retroactivity.

“The lawyers with pending resentencing cases are concerned about what the court 
might do. The people who have had their clients already resentenced are in a 
state of confusion about how the court’s opinion might impact them, as well,” 
Pete Mills, an assistant public defender in the 10th Judicial Circuit who also 
serves as chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association Death Penalty 
Steering Committee.

Judicial decision-making that abandons the doctrine of stare decisis --- in any 
area of the law --- is troubling, defense lawyers said.

“It reduces the legitimacy of the courts, as opposed to the far more political 
process of electing a governor, electing a Congress or a legislature. The 
judiciary’s supposed to be more neutral and see things more in the long-term,” 
Harper said in a telephone interview. “You have to respect precedent, even if 
you don’t agree with it.”

(source: WJCT news)








ALABAMA:

Prosecutors will ask for the death penalty against suspect in Alabama police 
shooting



The man suspected in the killing of an Auburn, Alabama, police officer late 
Sunday has been captured and will be charged with capital murder.

Grady Wayne Wilkes, 29, could face the death penalty if he's convicted in the 
death of Officer William Buechner, a 13-year department veteran.

"You shoot a police officer, we're going to pursue the death penalty," Lee 
County District Attorney Brandon Hughes said at a news conference Monday. 
"Absolutely."

Auburn Police Chief Paul Register said the incident began when Buechner and 
Officers Webb Sistrunk and Evan Elliott responded to a domestic violence call.

A late-night domestic call

The shooting happened at a mobile home park about 5 miles west of the Auburn 
University College of Veterinary Medicine.

A person opened fire when the officers arrived. Buechner was fatally wounded 
and Sistrunk and Elliott were injured, with Elliott treated and released from a 
hospital and Sistrunk in satisfactory condition at Piedmont Regional Hospital 
in Columbus, Georgia, a statement from Auburn police said.

A massive search by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and 
information from tipsters in the community helped lead to Wilkes' capture 
Monday at about 7:12 a.m., authorities said in a statement. Police had 
considered him "armed and dangerous."

Wilkes was taken into custody about a mile from where the incident took place. 
He's being held in the Lee County jail. He's also facing 3 counts of attempted 
murder and a charge of domestic violence in the 2nd degree.

Hughes told reporters that with a capital murder charge, the suspect is not 
entitled to a bond and "we don't anticipate him having a bond."

Hughes said Wilkes will sit before a judge soon and will have an opportunity to 
request a preliminary hearing.

In the military for a number of years

Register didn't offer much information about Wilkes. He said the suspect "Is 
someone we were not familiar with before this incident" and said Wilkes "was in 
the military for a number of years." He could not confirm which branch or for 
how long.

"We are thankful, at least, that the person that initially contacted us and 
these officers went to help was not injured and was able to escape the 
situation," Register said.

The police chief told reporters that the arrest came about as a combination of 
citizens reporting suspicious activity and law enforcement doing their job. He 
called the arrest "relatively uneventful."

"He was cooperative in conversations with law enforcement," Register said.

Praise for the officers

Register, who doesn't recall another police killing in his community during his 
stint there over the last 3 decades, praised the three officers, saying they 
exuded competence and dedication. He called Buechner a "very fine" officer.

"All fine young men," he said.

"Please keep those families in your thoughts. They are dealing with the 
unthinkable at this time," he told reporters.

"It's a difficult time for our entire community."

(source:WFSB news)








OHIO:

Cleveland man facing death penalty in ex-girlfriend’s stabbing sues over 
Cuyahoga County Jail conditions



A Cleveland man facing the death penalty after authorities said he stabbed his 
ex-girlfriend to death as her children listened in another room said in a 
recent lawsuit that he is subject to inhumane conditions in the Cuyahoga County 
Jail.

Markus Hawkins said his cell has black mold and that jail staff denied him 
mental health treatment, according to a suit filed April 29 in federal court in 
Cleveland. He also said in his lawsuit, which was handwritten and filed without 
a lawyer, that food trays smell like feces and that he has to endure extended 
periods of lockdown in his cell.

Hawkins, 32, is awaiting trial for murder and other charges in the death of 
28-year-old Imari Perez on Dec. 18, 2016.

Hawkins broke into Perez’s home about 3 a.m., forced her into a bedroom and 
locked the door, according to court records. Perez’s 3 children – then ages 6, 
10 and 11 – were also in the house.

One of the children saw Hawkins force the mother into the bedroom, and all 3 
children heard screams coming from the room, authorities said.

He has been in jail since November 2017, following his arrest by the U.S. 
Marshals Service.

The lawsuit says Hawkins developed depression in his first few months in jail 
because of fighting with inmates and no action by corrections officers, who he 
claimed said “just make sure you close the door."

He also said an officer attacked him and he was told to keep quiet about it. 
The suit also says that staff denied a request to change cells when the toilets 
overflowed.

“This action here is my very deep and intense cry for help as I feel like I’m 
in a 3rd world prison fighting for survival with minimal chance of surviving,” 
Hawkins wrote.

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, former jail director Ken Mills, 
Sheriff Clifford Pinkney, Associate Warden Eric Ivey, as well as former county 
IT administrator Emily McNeeley and Chief Talent Officer Douglas Dykes are all 
named as defendants in the case.

The lawsuit comes months after the U.S. Marshals Service issued a report that 
said investigators found “inhumane” and unconstitutional conditions in the 
jail, including an understaffed crew of corrections officers and inadequate 
access to medical and mental health care.

Since then, Mills and Ivey have faced criminal charges. Dykes and McNeeley were 
criminally charged as part of a corruption probe into the county, though their 
charges have nothing to do with the jail.

Hawkins is seeking to be “rightfully compensated” as well as to be immediately 
released.

A county spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Hawkins’ lawsuit is one of several inmates have filed over jail conditions. 
Lawyers representing several inmates also filed suit in December, and them and 
attorneys for the county have talked about trying to settle the case without a 
trial.

Attorneys for the county and the inmates discussed a number of issues in a 
conference last week before a federal judge last week. One issue involved the 
possibility of hiring of an expert approved by both sides who could review jail 
workings and make recommendations.

The attorneys said they would pursue a settlement based on those 
recommendations, according to an order issued Thursday.

Another handwritten lawsuit filed by Loren Young on April 22 seeks $650,000 for 
complaints similar to the ones in Hawkins’ suit.

Young, who is serving a two-year prison sentence for attempted felonious 
assault in the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut, said he passed 
out in court in June 2017 and was taken to Lutheran Hospital. A doctor 
suggested he follow up with a neurologist within 24 hours because of a head 
injury but a sheriff’s deputy took him back to jail and took away his hospital 
papers, according to his lawsuit.

He said he has continued to have medical issues and has not seen a neurologist.

(source: cleveland.com)








MISSOURI:

Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Winfrey seeks death penalty in murder 
case----McKenna was originally charged with second degree murder. Winfrey 
dismissed the 2nd degree murder charges earlier this year, and filed 1st degree 
murder charges.



An Illinois man accused of murdering a business associate from the state of 
California in Miller County could face the death penalty.

Last week in the Miller County Circuit Court, Miller County Prosecuting 
Attorney Ben Winfrey filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty 
against Joseph P. McKenna, of Chicago. McKenna is accused of murdering Tyler 
Joseph Worthington, 34, of North San Juan, California, in June of 2018. McKenna 
was originally charged with 2nd degree murder. Winfrey dismissed the 2nd degree 
murder charges earlier this year, and filed 1st degree murder charges.

The notice to seek the death penalty was filed the same day McKenna requested a 
bond reduction. The bond reduction was denied with a notation that McKenna had 
made “alleged threats to a witness.”

A second defendant in the case, Tyler Kroll, 25, is also charged with 1st 
degree murder for his alleged role in the murder. Kroll is being held in Miller 
County on $750,000 bond.

Court documents filed in Miller County by investigators in the case indicate a 
well established and successful pot operation and distribution system were 
being operated by Worthington. His body was found in a wooded area off Dry 
Creek Road near Tuscumbia. Investigators believe he was murdered by McKenna, a 
known business associate. Evidence at the scene indicated the victim was shot 
at that location and dragged into the woods, from the roadway.

On June 13, 2018 an autopsy determined the cause of death to be a single 
gunshot wound to the head and fingerprints confirmed the body was that of 
Worthington.

Investigators now believe the weapon used in the murder was recovered by 
Arkansas authorities during a traffic stop last year. During the arrest in 
Arkansas, McKenna and his girlfriend were in possession of 68 pounds of pot and 
a Ruger 9mm hand gun found hidden in a compartment. The handgun was 
subsequently tested by the Missouri Highway Patrol crime lab and was determined 
to be the gun that fired the shell casing found at the scene of Worthington’s 
murder.

Early on in the investigation, it was discovered that Worthington owned and 
maintained a large marijuana grow operation in and around his home in 
California. He was engaged in the growing of marijuana as well as heavily 
involved in the production of marijuana oil. Investigator’s also learned from 
an interview with a close associate of Worthington’s that he supplied this 
marijuana oil to McKenna. The murder is believed to be connected to money 
allegedly owed to Worthington by McKenna.

Investigators determined that after Worthington extracted the marijuana oil, it 
was shipped to McKenna, who then loaded the marijuana oil into cartridges for 
use in vapor style smoking devices.

During the execution of a search warrant at the home of Worthington, invoices 
were found showing a large number of new, empty vapor pen cartridges, along 
with specialized equipment to fill those cartridges, were purchased by and 
shipped to McKenna Services, Inc., in Chicago.

Also found during the search warrant was over 500 pounds of processed 
marijuana, green houses containing hundreds of marijuana plants, growing and 
cultivating supplies, and processing equipment including specialized equipment 
used in the extraction of marijuana oil. Other documents found during the 
execution of the search warrant included a handwritten ledger, which recorded 
details about the extraction of marijuana oil from plant material.

An interview with Worthington’s fiancee’ indicated that on June 2, 2018, 
Worthington flew to Chicago, Illinois to meet with McKenna, who she described 
as an individual active in the dealing of drugs and one who Worthington “works 
with”. She alleged that during his trip to Chicago, Worthington along with 
McKenna were planning to drive from Chicago, Illinois to Missouri to “do a 
job”.

Investigators confirmed that Worthington flew out of Sacramento airport on June 
2, to Chicago O’Hare Airport. Upon arrival, Worthington rented a white 2018 
Toyota Corolla (Still missing) from Hertz Rental Car. Worthington was reported 
to have driven separately in his rental car, from McKenna, but traveled with 
him during the trip to Missouri. Toll road records show that McKenna’s truck 
and Worthington’s rental car passed through the Cermak and Joliet tolls 
together, headed out of Chicago, just seconds apart on June 4, 2018. It was 
also discovered later that same day, McKenna’s truck went through northbound 
tolls, on its way back into Chicago, without Worthington’s rental car. The 
approximate drive time from Chicago to the location where Worthington was 
murdered is 14 hours, round-trip. From the time McKenna left Chicago until the 
time he returned was 16 hours and 17 minutes.

Court document filed with the 1st degree murder charge indicate multiple 
interviews were conducted, all leading back to McKenna. McKenna had allegedly 
made statements prior to Worthington’s body being found that he was going to 
kill him.

(soruce: lakenewsonline.com)






*************************

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in marijuana oil killing in central Missouri



Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Chicago man charged in the 
death of his California marijuana oil dealing partner whose remains were found 
in rural Missouri.

A notice requesting the sentence for 26-year-old Joseph McKenna was filed last 
week in Miller County in central Missouri. McKenna is jailed without bond on 
charges of 1st-degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with a 
witness in the June 2018 death of 34-year-old Tyler Worthington, of North San 
Juan, California. His attorney, Joel Schwartz, didn’t immediately return a 
phone message. Charging documents say Worthington supplied marijuana oil to 
McKenna for use in e-cigarettes. His body was found after he flew to Chicago to 
meet with McKenna and another man. A witness says the plan was for them to 
drive to Missouri and “do a job.”

(source: Associate Press)