Former corrections officer trainee sentenced to death for killing 5 women execution-style in bank

SEBRING, Fla. (TCN) -- A jury voted 9-3 to sentence a 27-year-old man to death for fatally shooting five women one by one at a bank in 2019.

Highlands County court records show the jury handed Zephen Xaver his death sentence on Monday, Dec. 16, following a lengthy penalty phase. He pleaded guilty in March 2023 to first degree murder with a firearm for the deaths of Marisol Lopez, Debra Cook, Ana Williams, Jessica Montague, and Cynthia Watson.

Sebring Police said on Jan. 23, 2019, at around noon, Xaver walked into the SunTrust Bank with a 9 mm handgun and "overtook the bank by force." Court documents say he waved his gun and ordered Lopez to lock the door. He checked to make sure the women weren’t armed, then forced them to lie down on the ground. He shot Lopez first, and as Watson turned her head to look at Xaver, he shot her multiple times. Then, he "went back to shooting the other victims in the original left to right order."

Xaver reportedly had "a smirk on his face as he checked over his gun, taking his time as they waited lying face down." Documents described the killings as a "tortuous murder" and being "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel."

About two weeks before the killings, Xaver obtained his driver’s license, which is required to purchase a gun. The day after getting his license, he took money out of his bank account and purchased a firearm. He reportedly lied on his background check application to pass it. Days later, he "joined two online chat groups which focused on murder, and he asked a question of the members regarding what happens to the family of the murderer who himself is killed." On Jan. 19, 2019, he bought a bulletproof vest.

Xaver reportedly wrote a note on this phone that read, "My heart races as I crave the taste of blood and mayhem. I thrive on chaos and it makes me feel whole. Without it my chest pains as I try to fit in a puzzle I don’t belong. I can’t help what I love and I love seeing death destruction... wonder what it would be like to truly kill."

On the day of the shooting, he texted his ex-girlfriend about "what a great day" he would be having, then messaged her again that he would be "dying today."

In a third text, he said he was "not going out alone I’m taking a few people with me because I’ve always wanted to kill people so I’m going to try it and see how it goes. Watch for me on the news Sebring Florida."

Xaver "calmly" entered the bank after a male customer left "and within three minutes had killed five people without any pretense of moral or legal justification."

Police said an employee in the back break room heard the shots, escaped, and called police. At 12:36 p.m., Xaver dialed 911 and informed the dispatcher that he had "killed five people in the bank." Dispatch stayed on the phone with Xaver until Highlands County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at 12:40 p.m. and Sebring Police Officers got to the scene at 12:42 p.m.

A standoff ensued and a SWAT team began negotiations with him. Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund said, "During negotiations, it appeared that the suspect was not going to allow us access to the victims in the bank, so I made the decision to have law enforcement personnel conduct a tactical entry in order to save victims and apprehend Zephen Xaver."

He was taken into custody at 2:28 p.m. Medics pronounced the five victims deceased at the scene.

According to WTVT-TV, Xaver spent time at behavioral health centers throughout his childhood and said he had felt suicidal since he was 9 years old and homicidal since he was 12. He reportedly told a school nurse when he was 14 that he had a dream about being a school shooter and killing his classmates. He signed up for the military after lying about his mental health history but was discharged after he reportedly informed another recruit that he was homicidal.

He began training as a corrections officer in November 2018 but quit his job two months later. He left his job at approximately the same time his mother took him to a gun store.

The Associated Press reports Xaver’s attorney asked the jury to sentence him to life in prison rather than the death penalty to avoid a retrial and the appeals process.

Lopez’s daughter said at the sentencing hearing, "You shattered me into a million pieces. I will celebrate the day you die, whenever that might be. Let it be known that you will always be a killer, a coward, a nobody and a waste of human life."

 Judge Angela Cowden told Xaver, "May God have mercy on your soul."

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