In late August, the Supreme Court of Florida affirmed the denial of postconviction relief and habeas petition of Tina Lasonya Brown. Ms. Brown was one of three people who kidnapped and killed 19-year-old Audreanna Zimmerman. Zimmerman was gagged, stuffed into the trunk of a car, attacked repeatedly with a stun gun and driven to the woods where she was beaten with a crowbar, doused with gasoline, set on fire and left to die.

At trial, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty, and the court found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. It ruled that: “(1) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification (great weight); (2) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (great weight); and (3) the murder was committed while Brown was engaged in the commission of a kidnapping (significant weight).” (citations omitted).