State seeks execution for man accused of killing Fort Pierce woman found in the trunk of his car

FORT PIERCE — A man arrested last year in connection to the 2020 homicide of a Fort Pierce woman found in the trunk of his car is now charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty, if convicted, records show.

Prosecutors declared their intent to seek a state execution for Kano Brown Jr, 31, of Fort Pierce, after a St. Lucie County grand jury on May 24 indicted him of first-degree murder and sexual battery in the homicide of Kathleen Black, court records show.

During a May 27, 2020 news briefing, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said investigators believed “that Brown picked up Kathleen Black, violently attacked her, killed her and stuffed her body in the trunk of his car.”

“Kathleen died at the hands of a predator,” he said.

Chief Medical Examiner Patricia A. Aronica concluded Black’s death was a homicide caused by "asphyxia,” based in part on evidence of fractures to the bone in the neck that supports the tongue, and “intramuscular hemorrhage” of the right side of the neck and left side of the back, a report stated.

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The 49-year-old was reported missing on May 21, 2020 — three days before investigators say her body was found in the trunk of Brown’s 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis.

It’s the same day Brown was initially arrested on multiple felonies related to the brutal sexual assaults and kidnappings of three other women investigators said happened between 2016 and 2020.

He was charged with two counts of sexual battery, three counts of kidnapping and single counts each of sexual battery using great force and aggravated battery causing great harm, records show.

Each woman, records noted, was picked up while walking on a roadway, was driven to a remote location then raped, viciously beaten and dumped on a roadside. The women described wandering — two left naked — and injured in the dark until finding a homeowner who summoned help.

Brown, who has pleaded not guilty to those charges, is being held without bond at the St. Lucie County Jail, court records show.

Documents related to those charges show investigators with Fort Pierce police and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office had been hot on Brown’s trail for weeks before his 2020 arrest and had developed evidence — including his DNA — that connected him to brutal sexual assaults in December 2016, March 2019 and April 2020.

A woman attacked in 2020 was hospitalized for a week from a "brain bleed," which she reported left her with permanent hearing loss, balance issues “and a partial hole in the frontal lobe of her brain.”

Kathleen Black's disappearance

Investigators had Brown under surveillance on April 17, 2020 where he lived with his grandmother in Fort Pierce, reports stated.

And on April 28 — six days after authorities say he picked up and raped a Fort Pierce woman, leaving her naked and beaten — his vehicle was seized by police based on a search warrant seeking evidence to tie Brown to rapes reported in 2016 and 2019.

Technicians cut out a piece of carpet in the trunk that appeared to have body fluids on it, a report stated. Brown’s car was returned to him May 1, investigators said.

Kathleen Black’s son told sheriff’s investigators he last spoke to his mother the evening of May 20, and that she told him she was going to downtown Fort Pierce.

Investigators believe she was picked up on Boston Avenue between South 11th Street and Preston Court around 1 a.m. on May 21, 2020, before being driven to a lot at South 17th Street and Delaware Avenue where she was sexually battered and killed by Brown.

Mascara said after Brown’s arrest at an apartment complex at Rhode Island Avenue and South 26th Street, Brown’s family members were asked to remove his vehicle from the parking lot.

A family member, according to Mascara, moved the Grand Marquis to their back yard. That Sunday, they noticed an odor. The trunk was opened and Black’s decomposing body, dressed in a gray tank top, black socks and a bra, was found.

At a news conference July 28, 2021 announcing Brown’s arrest on the murder charge, sheriff’s Detective Jason Cannon said Brown's internet search history from April 2, 2020, to May 20, 2020, revealed "disturbing" things, including hundreds of sites depicting rape, violence or prostitution.

Death penalty trial

If a jury finds Brown guilty of first-degree murder during the first part of his trial, the same jury that convicted him would then determine his punishment, which can only be life in prison or execution.

When determining whether capital punishment is warranted, the law requires the state to list the aggravating circumstances, or reasons why a sentence of death is legal and appropriate. Prosecutors weigh such aggravators against any potential mitigating evidence, such as neurological problems, substance abuse or diminished mental health.

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State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl on Tuesday declined to discuss the specifics in Brown's case but said the decision to seek the death penalty followed a review of the evidence collected by law enforcement.

“During the discussions of all the facts and circumstances of the case — to include the defendant’s background known to us at this stage of the prosecution — this is a case that warrants imposition of the death penalty,” Bakkedahl said. “That's why we filed our notice … that identifies the statutory aggravators that we believe will have a good faith basis to establish or prove at trial.”

Prosecutors cited four statutory aggravators related to Black’s murder including:

• It was committed by a person previously convicted of a felony and under sentence of imprisonment or placed on community control or probation

• The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person

• It was committed during the commission of a felony, including sexual battery

• The killing was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel

Court records show a judge on Tuesday approved a change of attorneys for Brown following his capital murder indictment.

Brown’s court-appointed attorney Jacob Noble was allowed to withdraw, he said, because he’s not certified to participate in a death penalty trial. Noble said he’s being replaced by Fort Lauderdale attorney Young Tindall, who couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment.

It’s unclear when Brown will be tried separately for the sexual battery and kidnapping charges. He’s represented in that case by Stuart attorney Jordan Showe.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Fort Pierce man may face death penalty in murder of woman found in trunk