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State Will Seek Death Penalty For Girl In Machete Murder

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - State prosecutors have announced that they plan to seek the death penalty for a teenage girl accused of taking part in the grisly machete murder of a Homestead student.

Desiray Strickland, 18, has been indicted on first degree murder. On Thursday, her attorney entered a plea of not guilty and said they would go to trial.

Also charged with first degree murder in the June 2015 murder of 17-year-old Jose Guardado are 23-year old Joseph Cabrera, 20-year-old Kaheem Arbelo, 18-year-old Jonathan Lucas and 19-year-old Christian Colon.

Strickland and the others were students at Homestead Job Corps, a live-in school and vocational training program for at-risk students run by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The group allegedly spent two weeks planning Guardado's death. A few days before they actually carried it out, they went into the woods near the school and allegedly dug a shallow grave.

On Sunday, June 28th, they lured Guardado into the woods and Arbelo ambushed him with a machete as the others watched, according to Strickland's arrest report. As Guardado lay dying on the ground, the group reportedly ordered him to crawl into the grave they had dug.

When Guardado made one last attempt to fight back, Arbelo struck him repeatedly until his face caved in, according to the arrest report.

They then placed him in the grave and buried him. Noticing all the blood, they burned Guardado's belongings as well as their own clothes, according to police. They also got rid of the shovel and machete.

Strickland and Arbelo reportedly stayed in the woods and had sex until it was time to return the campus at Job Corp.

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