A Holmes County jury recommended 9-3 Friday afternoon that Johnny Mack “Skeeto” Calhoun be put to death for the 2010 kidnapping and murder of Mia Brown, announced State Attorney Larry Basford.
The jury’s vote came after a little more than two hours of deliberation and eight days of testimony.
Basford and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet presented nearly 20 witnesses and evidence that the death penalty was the proper sentence. The victim was kidnapped, bound, gagged, and burned alive in her car in December 2010. Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson will set a sentencing date.
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Calhoun was previously found guilty and sentenced to death in 2012, but his was one of many Florida cases sent back for new sentencings following a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Basford and Overstreet proved the murder met three aggravating factors required by law: it was committed during a kidnapping that facilitated the murder, it was particularly heinous, atrocious or cruel, and it was cold, calculated and premeditated. The jury unanimously agreed that all of the aggravating factors had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sixteen family members and friends wrote victim impact letters describing how the murder affected their lives. The victim’s mother, father and three siblings addressed the jurors in person.
“I still have dreams where Mia is perfect and whole, and I ask her where she has been and she always says she’s been here all along,” said the victim’s youngest sister. “I wake up to the disappointment that I can’t touch her and see her blue eyes twinkling back at me. But I know my dreams are real and she is with me and our family.
“And she is ready for justice.“
Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office for their work and collaboration on the original case.
For more information or questions contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or call 850-381-7454.