OCALA, Fla. – A man convicted in the 2011 murder and dismemberment of a Marion County 15-year-old was sentenced Tuesday to death for a second time.
Michael Bargo, 26, was sentenced to death in 2013 for the killing of Seath Jackson. The original jury reached the recommendation for death in a 10-2 vote, but a new sentencing hearing was ordered years later by the Florida Supreme Court.
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In 2016, the state high court ruled juries must be unanimous in recommending the death penalty, which the court put in place in response to U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
In 2011, Bargo and four friends lured Jackson to a home in Summerfield, where Bargo shot the 15-year-old multiple times. The group then burned the body in a fire pit and disposed of the ashes by putting them in paint cans and dumping them in a quarry.
Bargo's four co-defendants were each convicted in the case and sentenced to life in prison.
On April 3, during the resentencing, the state detailed the crime and Bargo's role in it. The prosecution called the crime cold, calculated and premeditated while asking the jury to recommend the death penalty.
The defense went through Bargo's history of family problems and mental illness. Bargo's attorney said those factors played a role in his decision-making, and she asked the jury to recommend life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Both the state and defense called several witnesses before a jury recommended death for Bargo. This time the vote was unanimous.
Bargo was returned to the Florida Department of Corrections' custody after the new sentencing.
