A judge on Thursday agreed with a second jury’s capital punishment recommendation and resentence Michael Bargo to death for his conviction in the slaying of a 15-year-old Marion County boy.
Bargo, now 27, was first sentenced to death in 2013 for the 2011 killing of Seath Jackson. The original jury reached the recommendation for death in a 10-2 vote but in 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled juries must be unanimous in recommending the death penalty. As a result, the court ordered resentencing for people on death row who did not receive a unanimous jury recommendation.
During Bargo’s resentencing in April a jury unanimously recommended the death sentence. On Thursday, the judge officially handed down Bargo’s death sentence.
In 2011, Bargo and four friends lured Jackson to a home in Summerfield, where Bargo shot the 15-year-old multiple times. The group then burned the body in a fire pit and disposed of the ashes by putting them in buckets and dumping them in a quarry.
Bargo’s four co-defendants were each convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
During the resentencing, the state detailed the crime and Bargo’s role in it. The prosecution called the crime cold, calculated and premeditated, and asked the jury to recommend the death penalty.
The defense went through Bargo’s history of family problems and mental illness. Bargo’s attorney said those factors played a role in his decision-making, and she asked the jury to recommend life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Both the state and the defense called several witnesses before a jury recommended death for Bargo.
Bargo was returned to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections after the new sentencing.
Judge Anthony Tatti explained that Bargo has already been found guilty of first-degree murder of 15-year-old Seath Jackson in a previous proceeding.
This re-sentencing comes after the Florida Supreme Court ruled it takes a unanimous jury vote for the death sentence.
The jury in Bargo’s original trial voted 10 to 2 in favor of the death penalty.
Bargo, who was 18 at the time, and his four co-defendants, were convicted of Seath Jackson’s murder in August of 2013.
Amber Wright, Kyle Hooper, Charlie Ely and Justin Soto all were sentenced to life in prison.
It was the evening of April 17, 2011. They lured Seath Jackson into a Summerfield home. They shot and beat him, stuffed his body in a sleeping bag and then burned Jackson’s body in a fire pit.
Jackson’s remains were put into paint buckets the next day and dumped into a water-filled quarry weighed down with cinder blocks.
The state will argue the murder was cold, calculated and premeditated.
The defense will try to show that Michael Bargo suffers from brain damage and mental illness.
The 14-member jury, including two alternates, will recommend to the judge whether Michael Bargo should get the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Court resumes Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with opening statements.
