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Haiti - FLASH : A Haitian-American sentenced to death in Florida
30/10/2017 08:37:00

Friday in Florida, Haitian-American Mesac Damas (41) was sentenced to death by Collier County Judge Christine Greider for killing his wife and five children in September 2009. He was sentenced after pleading guilty to 6 counts of first degree murder, waived his right to a jury and also waived his right to have his lawyers present mitigating evidence in his favor. Judge Greider told the court, "Because death is a unique punishment in its finality, its application is reserved only for those cases where only the most aggravating and least mitigating circumstances exist." Note that the Mesac Damascus affair had been dragging on for almost 8 years, marked by numerous appeals by his lawyers to avoid the death penalty.

"I love my people, my wife and children. But this thing happened [...] I wish I had an answer for it, but I don’t," said Damascus in court "From now on, I’m just going to put my trust in him, and say sorry to the whole world."

Let's recall that in September 2009 Damascus savagely killed in North Naples, in the family home, his wife, Guerline Dieu Damas, 32, and his five children: Michzach, 9, Marven, 6, Maven, 5, Megan , 3 years and Morgan 11 months, cutting their throats. At the time, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk described the killings as "the most horrible and violent event in the county's history."

After the murder Mesac Damascus had fled to Haiti where he was arrested 3 days later by the National Police of Haiti (PNH) and extradited and handed over to US justice. Damascus said at the time that he did not run away but that he went to Haiti to say goodbye to his family and that he then intended to go to court.

After acknowledging killing his family at a "Naples News" reporter on his return to the United States, he said he wanted the jury to immediately send him to death before adding that his children and his wife were innocent... At the reporter's question "Then why, why would you kill them ?" he would have answered "The devil exists... When I did it my eyes was closed, right now my eyes are open [..."

A statement that had contributed, among other things, to the delay in his trial, his lawyers having claimed that he had suffered a traumatic brain injury and had a long history of mental illness that had begun during his childhood in Haiti. A defense rejected by the court, the public prosecutor having brought elements of premeditation including the purchase of the knife a few days before the tragedy, and proved that the accused was perfectly able to distinguish what is good from what is wrong and were therefore responsible for his actions at the time of the murder.

SL/ HaitiLibre