MIAMI, Fla. – The jury members listened to the devastation caused by the criminal actions of Anthawn Ragan, including the testimonies of the mother and brother of Luis Pérez, whom Ragan murdered in 2013 in a motel of North Miami.
Ragan was convicted of first degree murder last month for the death of Pérez.
This Tuesday, the jury himself returned to the sentence phase, in which they must recommend if Ragan will spend the rest of his life in prison or if he will be sentenced to death.
The Prosecutor’s Office presented evidence of aggravating factors to demonstrate that the death penalty is appropriate, claiming that the murder was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated way, and that Ragan had already been convicted of other violent crimes in which he fired a weapon or threatened to use it.
The jury listened to Numa Alphense Mitke’s testimony, victim of an armed robbery in 2013 at the Royal Castle restaurant in North Miami, where she worked.
Ragan pointed it with a gun and demanded money from the safe and customers.
“He told me: ‘Bitch, where are you going? I’m going to shoot you in the head,” Mitke said. “He said: ‘Give me everything you have, jewelry, whatever, just give it to me.”
The defense seeks to save Ragan’s life and will present attenuating factors, including several mental health diagnoses, the imprisonment of their parents and their age at the time of crime, which was 19 years.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
