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A jury in Broward County recommended life imprisonment on Monday for Jason Banegas, the young man who pleaded guilty to murdering Cuban police officer Yandy Chirino, a crime that deeply affected the South Florida community in October 2021.
According to Local 10 News, the jury's recommendation occurred during the sentencing phase of the trial and was made in less than two hours of deliberation, a timeframe that surprised even the defense.
With this decision, the jury dismissed the death penalty and chose for Banegas to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The judge is scheduled to formally impose the sentence on February 18.
In October, Banegas, 22 years old, previously pled guilty to first-degree murder for fatally shooting Officer Chirino while he was responding to a call about a suspicious person.
"It's a very heavy decision. I didn't think it would come so quickly," stated defense attorney Lien Lafargue after the verdict was announced.
The crime
Yandy Chirino was only 28 years old when he was murdered on the night of October 17, 2021, in the 4000 block of North Hills Drive, in the city of Hollywood, Florida.
The officer responded to a report about a person checking parked vehicles.
Images captured by a Ring camera showed Banegas, who was then 18 years old, riding a bicycle while trying to check for uninsured cars.
According to the police investigation, during a struggle, Banegas shot twice in the face of the officer, causing fatal injuries.
When Officer Chirino tried to arrest him, a struggle ensued during which Banegas shot him twice in the face, resulting in his death.
Heartfelt testimonies
During the last days of hearings, the court heard deeply emotional testimonies from family members and loved ones of both the victim and the accused.
One of the most shocking moments was the playback of a video showing the last moments of Chirino after he was injured.
In those images, we see Detective Manuel Rodríguez-Blevins, the officer's best friend and patrol partner, arriving at the scene and finding him seriously injured.
In the trial against the murderer, Rodríguez-Blevins shared, in tears, how he tried to assist him while still dealing with the assailant, who was resisting arrest.
Another fragment showed an officer kneeling outside the emergency room, crying inconsolably as Chirino was admitted to intensive care.
The material was described as devastating and had a profound impact in the room.
Reaction of the Hollywood Police
After the jury's recommendation was made known, the head of the Hollywood Police Department, Jeff Delvin, issued a statement expressing his disagreement with the outcome, although he assured that they respect the judicial process.
"When one of our officers is killed, I believe the responsible party should face the maximum penalty permitted by law," Delvin stated.
"Although the verdict did not reflect that outcome, this murderer will spend the rest of his life behind bars with no possibility of parole. However, we respect the judicial process and the dedication of those who carried it out," he specified.
A case that marked the community
The case of Yandy Chirino left a deep wound in the Cuban-American community.
Born in Havana and raised in Miami, Chirino graduated from Florida International University (FIU) and had been recognized several times for his professional performance, including being named Officer of the Month in June 2020.
Thousands of people attended his funeral, where his family recalled that he died "doing what he loved: helping people."
Banegas, for his part, also faces the weight of other background related to the case. Weeks after the crime, his sister, who was 17 at the time, was arrested for the theft of the weapon used in the murder.
The sentencing phase marks the end of a four-year wait for the fallen officer's family and for a police department that still remembers the impact of that night.
With the jury's recommendation to sentence the accused to life imprisonment, the process now enters its final stage, awaiting the official verdict from the judge in February, thus closing a legal chapter that has kept the city of Hollywood in suspense for over four years.
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