Jurors Decide Convicted Killer Brandon Rolle Should Die
MIAMI - (CBS4) - A Miami-Dade jury has recommended the death penalty for a 26-year-old man convicted of first-degree murdering a tourist.
The jury returned an 8-4 verdict in favor of sentencing Brandon Rolle to death.
A judge will ultimately determine his fate.
Rolle was found guilty of robbing and killing Chicago tourist 54-year-old Ronald Gentile in July of 2006 after Gentile stopped him and asked for directions.
Gentile was in town to celebrate his son's 17th birthday.
Investigators say Gentile dropped the teen off at the Shops of Sunset Place in South Miami where he worked at a mall restaurant. Minutes later, Gentile was robbed and killed about 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Jefferson Street, just a few blocks from U.S. 1. Rolle took his necklace with a cross, a gold bracelet, a diamond ring and a wallet.
Police say Gentile, unfamiliar with Miami-Dade, asked for help from a stranger and was robbed and shot while inside his rental car.
Gentile would have been heading back to his ex-wife's home in the Dadeland Mall area, when police say he likely headed toward downtown Miami and ended up in the Grove.
Witnesses told police they saw Gentile roll down the window of his rented white Chevrolet Cobalt, then Rolle robbed and fatally shot Gentile.
Police said Gentile collapsed to the ground near his car. Rolle turned himself into police and became a prime suspect. At the time of his arrest, family members claimed he had done nothing wrong.
"In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus," one relative cried out. "He was set-up. This is not right.. In the name of Jesus. This is not right. This is not right! This is not right!"
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