Prosecutors seek to convince jury that DeBary killer be sentenced to death

Prosecutors Tuesday told jurors that a man who executed his childhood friend in a DeBary storage unit had killed before and that this time he should pay with his own life.

The penalty phase in Julio C. Rivera's trial began Tuesday and is expected to end Friday with the jury’s decision.

Rivera, 52, shot Roberto Ovalle, 40, on Dec. 8, 2019, in a storage unit that had been converted into an efficiency living space off Highbanks Road.

Jurors last week found Rivera guilty of first-degree murder for killing Ovalle. He was also found guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Now, if at least eight of the jurors recommend death, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn will decide at a later hearing whether to sentence Rivera to death or to life in prison. If less than eight vote for death, the judge must sentence Rivera to life in prison.

Ovalle was a drug dealer who kept marijuana and heroin in the storage unit. Rivera, who was wanted in New York for a probation violation, was staying in that unit, which had been converted into an efficiency. Rivera had felt disrespected by Ovalle. He said Ovalle was planning a trip to New York and Rivera asked what he would get from the trip. Ovalle said nothing — that he got to stay in the storage unit.

Rivera had killed previously

Assistant State Attorney Heatha Trigones, who is prosecuting the case along with Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis, told jurors during opening statements in the penalty phase that Rivera had killed a shopkeeper during a 1993 robbery in New York. According to testimony, the victim owned a car audio store.

She said Rivera shot the man in the head just like he shot Ovalle. She said Rivera then shot at police as he tried to escape before barricading himself in an apartment, taking people hostage.

She said Rivera had also shot another man during an earlier attempted robbery in 1993. That man survived and testified Tuesday.

Trigones told jurors that those were violent felonies that served as aggravators in support of the death penalty. Jurors must unanimously agree that one aggravating factor exists before they can recommend the death penalty.

Trigones said Rivera served more than two decades in prison before he was released on parole in February 2019. Before the end of that year, Rivera had shot and killed Ovalle, she said. She said the fact that Rivera was on parole when he shot Ovalle was another aggravator.

Trigones also argued that a third aggravator applied to Rivera; he killed Ovalle in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner. She said Rivera had planned the killing, sending someone a gif of a black cat pushing a coffin just hours before the shooting.

Trigones said that Rivera usually had unloaded firearms in the storage unit. But all three firearms were loaded on the night of the killing. Trigones said that Rivera had distracted Ovalle before walking behind him and shooting him in the back of the head.

Defense: Rivera had difficult childhood

Defense attorney Melissa Ortiz, who represents Rivera along with Defense Attorney Terence Lenamon, told jurors that Rivera had served his prison time for the crimes in New York and was remorseful.

She said that after Rivera shot the shopkeeper, he tried to take his own life by shooting himself in the chest.

Ortiz argued that Ovalle’s murder had not been cold, calculated and premediated.

She referred jurors to the recording of a jail house phone call in which Rivera said he “snapped” when he killed Ovalle.

She said Rivera killed Ovalle in front of a witness, Ovalle’s girlfriend, whom he let go. Ortiz said Rivera then turned himself in.

Ortiz said Rivera grew up in an impoverished section of Puerto Rico and dropped out of sixth grade before his family moved to New York.

She said members of Rivera’s family had a history of mental illness. His father abandoned his mother and Rivera would cry and ask where his father was. His mother later met a man in New York who turned out to be extremely violent; Rivera would witness violent episodes and try to intervene. Ortiz also said that Rivera was sexually abused by a security guard and a neighbor while he was growing up.

She said Rivera started using marijuana in his teens and then started using cocaine and heroin by his late teens.

Rivera's victim from 1993 testifies

Luis Cedeno testified via Zoom about his encounter with Rivera in 1993 in the Bronx. He said he was walking out of a grocery store near his apartment when Rivera accosted him, said something about money and lifted a gun. Cedeno said he pushed the gun away and it fired, shattering his hand.

“Next thing I know I was in the hospital," Cedeno said.

He said he required multiple transfusions, extensive therapy and reconstruction of his hand.

Katrina Pound testified via Zoom Tuesday as well. She said she and Ovalle share a daughter. She said Ovalle’s killing changed their lives forever.

“It’s caused pain you can’t even imagine,” she said.

She called Ovalle their “rock” and said he had “a good heart” and was a caring person.

During a brief cross examination, Lenamon asked her if she was aware that Ovalle had three prior felony convictions.

She said she was.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: DeBary killer facing death penalty in storage unit murder