Highlands County: Zephen Xaver sentenced to death

Earlier this year, Zephen Xaver pled guilty to five counts of first-degree murder for deaths in a 2019 shooting. Yesterday, the trial court sentenced Xaver to death on all five counts.

Zephen Xaver pled guilty to five counts of first-degree murder for shootings that occurred at a Central Florida bank in 2019. As TFDP previously covered, on June 26, 2024, a jury recommended that Xaver be sentenced to death on each count by a vote of 9-3.¹

Yesterday, the trial court sentenced Xaver to death on all five counts. A video of the Judge announcing the sentence is available from WFLA here.

In the Sentencing Order, the Judge found the following aggravating factors, which the jury also found, and assigned each the noted weight:

• Xaver was previously or contemporaneously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving use or threat of violence to the person (great weight);

• The capital felony as especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (great weight); and

• The capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification (great weight).

The Judge found the following mitigating circumstances and assigned each the noted weight:

• Xaver has family and friends who love and support him and he has the ability to maintain those relationships (little weight);

• Xaver has had a positive influence on others while incarcerated (very slight weight);

• Xaver’s age at the time of the crime (little weight);

• Xaver has no significant history of prior criminal activity (little weight);

• Xaver has a tumor in his brain (little weight);

• Xaver has a history of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and auditory hallucinations (little weight);

• Xaver has had multiple psychiatric hospitalizations (little weight);

• Xaver suffers from depression with psychotic features (little weight);

• There is a history of mental illness in Xaver’s family (slight weight);

• Xaver has a genetic risk for mental disorders (very slight weight);

• Xaver has a history of homicidal thoughts (little weight);

• Xaver has a history of suicidal thoughts and acts (little weight);

• Xaver did not receive the psychiatric care and medication or therapy and counseling that he needed as a child (very slight weight);

• Xaver has been voluntarily taking psychiatric medication, including anti-psychotics, during his incarceration (very slight weight);

• The murder was committed while Xaver was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance (very slight weight);²

• Xaver’s capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired (very slight weight);³

• The brain is not fully developed at 21 years of age (little weight);

• Xaver’s development as a child was adversely affected due to unstable, abusive, and disrupted parental relationships (little weight);

• Xaver’s father was physically and emotionally abusive while Xaver was a child (little weight);

• Xaver’s mother was neglectful and exposed him to domestic violence while Xaver was a child (little weight);

• Xaver’s home life was unstable (little weight);

• Xaver has accepted responsibility for his crimes (little weight);

• Xaver has shown remorse (little weight);

• Xaver has embraced Christianity (little weight); and

• Xaver is a human being (little weight).

The Judge found that the aggravation outweighs the mitigation and sentenced Xaver to death on each count.

The full Sentencing Order can be downloaded here.

News Articles

• AP News

• New York Times

• WFLA

Prior TFDP Coverage on Xaver’s Case

• Trial court rules 8-4 applies

• Jury recommendation for death

1. The TFDP post regarding the jury’s recommendation has been updated to include the jury verdict form.

2. This mitigator appears to be repeated in the Sentencing Order.

3. This mitigator appears to be repeated in the Sentencing Order.