In 10-2 vote, jury recommends death for man convicted of killing Rubye James

TAVARES — Jurors on Friday recommended a death sentence for Joshua McClellan in the death of beloved retired teacher 92-year-old Rubye James.

The jury's recommendation came on a 10-2 vote. The courts have recently ruled that only eight jurors need to agree on a death sentence recommendation. The final sentencing decision rests with the judge.

Defense and prosecution lawyers pointed to the dueling testimony of their expert mental health experts in their closing arguments.

Defense attorney Frank Bankowitz went a step further, pointing out that co-defendant Krystopher Laws pleaded guilty in 2020 in return for a life sentence.

“Our client chose to go to trial; he should not be punished more severely,” Bankowitz argued.

But jurors agreed with Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio, who said there were five statutory aggravating circumstances in this murder: McClellan was an accomplice; the murder was for financial gain; it was done to avoid arrest or detection; it was cold, calculated and premeditated; and at 92, James was an especially vulnerable victim.

The crime scene was a blood-drenched horror.

James, who was cautious, opened her fortified door to the sound of McClellan’s voice in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, 2017, authorities said. McClellan had done yard work for her in the past and she sometimes fed him.

She was immediately attacked, stabbed, beaten and stomped, her body dragged through her meticulously kept house to the garage, where she was stuffed in the trunk of her car and driven to woods near McClellan’s house, where she was buried in a shallow grave.

McClellan was found guilty of murder last week. The penalty phase of the trial began Aug. 28. Jurors weighed aggravating factors against mitigating factors.

A defense neurologist who conducted a scan said McClellan had suffered some kind of brain injury. There was also evidence that he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

McClellan was exposed to poverty and was twice removed from his home because his mother smoked marijuana.

State expert psychologist Gregory Prichard said McClellan had a “mixed personality disorder.”

Personality disorders are not the same as mental illnesses, he testified. You can’t prescribe medication for a personality trait, but you can for a mental illness such as schizophrenia or for those who are bipolar.

The experts battled over their interpretation of school, jail, medical and Department of Children and Families records, and of a sociological self-reported childhood trauma evaluation.

“Garbage in, garbage out,” Camuccio said of the test results.

The defense argued that McClellan was a follower, not a leader, was impulsive, was “slow” mentally, was under the domination of Laws and was suffering from extreme emotional or mental distress at the time of the crime.

There was no evidence to back that up, Camuccio said.

“Mr. McClellan made the decision to kill Rubye James,” he said.

Outside the courtroom, before the sentencing recommendation was announced, McClellan’s mother, Sara Collins, said, “I begged and begged and begged him to stay away from Krys.”

“A lot of things didn’t come out,” she said of the trial, “and a lot of things weren’t true.”

She was accused of neglect, in one case, because she refused to let doctors take him off medication to control his ADHD. There were terrible side effects, she said, including bathroom accidents at school and hallucinations.  She and McClellan’s father agreed that the medication should be dropped.

She said, however, that Joshua was mentally ill before he was diagnosed with ADHD.

Previous coverage: Jury deciding punishment recommendation for man convicted of killing Rubye James

“He saw things that his sister and I couldn’t see,” she said.

“My son’s heart is not what it was made out to be,” she said. “I don’t understand any of this.”

When the sentencing recommendation was announced, McClellan showed no emotion. Collins, on the other hand, wept when she walked out of the courtroom.

Circuit Judge Heidi Davis said a hearing will be set soon where defense attorneys will have a chance to present evidence against imposing a death sentence.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Lake County jury: Man convicted of killing woman, 92, should be executed