Press Release
The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on Wednesday, September 10, 2018, a sentencing hearing was held for Daniel Jacob Craven, Jr. In June, a Jackson County jury unanimously found Craven guilty of First Degree Premeditated Murder in the death of John Anderson and returned a unanimous verdict that death was the appropriate punishment. Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson wasted little time in adjudging Craven guilty and pronouncing a death sentence. He filed a written Sentencing Order summarizing the facts of the case and detailing why the four Aggravating Factors that had been established beyond a reasonable doubt outweighed the five Mitigating Circumstances that had been established by the greater weight of the evidence. The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford and Assistant State Attorney Laura Parish, and was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Craven is the first Defendant in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit to be sentenced to death under Florida’s new death penalty law that was enacted in 2017.
For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.