Jurors favor execution for Jacksonville murderer Randall Deviney

Randall Deviney, the twice convicted murderer of his Westside neighbor, deserves to die by execution, a majority of jurors ruled Thursday in an 8-4 vote.

The jurors heard testimony all day, including hours from two psychologists who testified that Deviney suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He was stabbed when he was 3. He suffered child abuse. He told them he'd been raped. And he may have been afraid because he was born to parents who were previously convicted in the death of another toddler son.

"Train up a child the way he should go, and when he is grown, he will not depart from it," defense attorney Kelli Bynum said in her opening statement. "If you train a child in love, he will learn to love. If you teach a child compassion and patience and kindness, he will learn to be compassionate and patient and kind.

"But what if that doesn't happen? What if a child is taught by killers? … What if a child is taught hate and violence? What if a child is abused by the people who are supposed to protect him?" Bynum said.

Deviney killed his 65-year-old neighbor with Multiple Sclerosis, Delores Futrell, by slitting her throat in 2008. He said he snapped when she tried to get him to talk about his past abuses. He was 19 at the time, and he is 25 now.

The jury also made additional findings that the murder was premeditated and occurred during a burglary and an attempted sexual battery.

The Florida Supreme Court threw out a previous conviction because Jacksonville police continued to interrogate him after he invoked his right to remain silent.

His father testified Thursday about the abuse his son suffered, and the psychologists said Deviney told them about being raped by his mother and his mother's drug dealer.

His mother denied the accusations when she testified for the prosecution.

Jurors listened to the emotional words of Futrell's two daughters and a sister who painted a picture of what her loss has meant to them.

Jackie Blades, Futrell's oldest daughter and a 12-year Navy veteran, said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder because of her mother's death.

"She was my mother, sister, friend and my support," she said. "But that's not sufficient. I have to tell you about her smile."

Futrell's other daughter wasn't in court, but someone read her statement.

"She was always there when I needed her," wrote Helen Futrell-Stewart. "Now when something comes up I am reminded she is gone. We will never have a mother-daughter talk again."

Her sister, Debra Wright, spoke of how Futrell sacrificed for her children and of how her long-time boyfriend quickly deteriorated after her death.

Nancy Mullins, Deviney's mother, said she never physically, verbally or sexually abused her son. After he admitted the murder to her in 2008, she said, she hasn't talked to him since, though she testified she still loves him.

The defense told jurors they were fair in finding Deviney guilty, and they needed to be fair in giving Deviney a life sentence instead of recommending execution.

The child abuse and traumatic experiences, the defense said, aren't excuses but explanations.

Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda challenged the expert witnesses repeatedly.

Both psychologists said Deviney told them of being raped by his mother and his mother's drug dealer. His mother, he told them, would rape him while telling him that she wished she could do that to his father. She also would insult him.

Her drug dealer would perform oral sex on him, he told the experts.

Psychologist Steven Gold said Deviney met nine of 10 risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder.

His father also testified that he suspected sexual abuse, and he doesn't think the Department of Children and Families thoroughly investigated it. The department, the prosecution pointed out, only found proof of abuse by the father.

Michael Deviney - who along with his wife got out of prison on parole after five years of a 20-year-sentence for another child's second-degree murder - testified that he knew he had sex in front of his children and the department didn't report that.

In his final statement, prosecutor de la Rionda spoke in his booming voice and said, "What he put this victim through, when she was brutally and savagely murdered, means he deserves and he should get the death penalty."

Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper will make the ultimate decision in a future hearing whether to accept the jury's recommendation to execute Deviney. She could decide to sentence him to life, even though the majority of jurors recommended death.

Cooper will have a hearing Aug. 28 that will allow the defense to present more evidence that argues Deviney shouldn't be executed.

Andrew Pantazi: (904) 359-4310