Date of Sentence:
04/07/98
Circumstances of Offense:
Jason D. Stephens was convicted
and sentenced to death for the murder of 3-year-old Robert Sparrow III.
On 06/02/97, Jason Stephens and
several accomplices broke into the home of Robert Sparrow, Jr. Stephens
refused to name his accomplices. Horace Cummings, however, turned
himself into authorities as one of the accomplices. The police never
apprehended the other accomplices.
According to Stephens, he went with
his accomplices, including Horace Cummings, to the Sparrow home to buy
drugs, and he claimed that they did not know about his plans to commit
the robbery.
According to testimony at trial,
Stephens came into the home carrying a 9-mm firearm. Stephens was
standing next to 3-year-old Robert Sparrow III and Consuelo Brown,
Sparrow’s mother. Brown confronted Stephens, who hit her in the face
with the firearm.
Stephens then shot a bullet into the floor to prove
that the firearm was loaded and demanded money and marijuana. Stephens
told Robert Sparrow Jr. to give him the keys to the blue car parked near
the house, but Sparrow did not have the car keys.
Stephens told all of the
hostages, which included Robert Sparrow III, Robert Sparrow Jr.,
Consuelo Brown, Kahari Brown, Tracey Williams, Derrick Hosea Dixon and
Tammy Cobb, to lie on the ground, and an unknown man held the hostages
at gunpoint while Stephens looked around the home for a room in which to
put the hostages.
Stephens chose the bathroom and made the hostages
crawl to the bathroom. David Cobb, Robert Sparrow Jr.’s half brother
and his friend, Roderick Gardener, arrived at the home during the
commission of the robbery and were forced into the bathroom with the
other hostages. Items taken from the men included the keys to
Gardener’s mother’s green Kia.
Stephens showed the hostages his
ID and said that he was taking Robert Sparrow III with him for
‘insurance.’ Stephens said that he would leave Robert Sparrow III
somewhere if he was not followed.
Stephens left the Sparrow residence
with Robert Sparrow III in the green Kia because his accomplices would
not let him in the black car, which they had driven to the Sparrow
residence, with the child. Both the black and green cars left, and they
pulled over less than one mile away and left Robert Sparrow III in the
car in a sunny area around 2:30 in the afternoon. The car was not found
until after 9 o’clock that night. Three-year-old Robert Sparrow III was
found dead in the green Kia.
Stephens claimed that the
Sparrow was alive when he left him in the car. A doctor presented by
the defense testified that Robert Sparrow III died from hyperthermia due
to being in the hot car for the extended period of time.
In contrast,
the medical examiner testified that Sparrow died from asphyxiation,
which included either strangulation or suffocation; however, the medical
examiner could not rule out hyperthermia.
Additional Information:
Duval County Circuit Court #97-1998
On 06/18/96, two individuals
picked up a prostitute and then bought crack cocaine. The three people
drove to an area to smoke the crack cocaine. The prostitute noticed a
red car park next to the car, and then she heard several popping sounds
and the window of the truck shattered. She testified that one of the
people, Robert Miller, was shot. The driver dropped the prostitute off
at a gas station and then went to the hospital where Miller was
pronounced dead. The police determined that the red car belonged to
Jason Stephens. He was convicted of First-Degree Murder and sentenced
to Life on 02/27/98.
Duval County Circuit Court #97-9219
On 12/03/96, Jason Stephens was
a passenger in a car that cut off another car on the road to turn into
the Radio Shack parking lot. The car that had been cut off parked in
front of Radio Shack, and the driver exited the car. At this point,
Jason Stephens approached the other car with a firearm. Stephens shot
the victim who fell to the ground and attempted to crawl behind his
car. Stephens continued shooting the victim after the man was on the
ground. On 12/05/96, the victim identified Jason Stephens from a police
photo line-up. Stephens was convicted of Attempted First-Degree Murder
and sentenced to Life on 02/17/98.
Codefendant Information:
Horace Cummings (Duval County
Circuit Court #97-9232)
Trial Summary:
07/24/97 Stephens was arrested.
08/07/97 Stephens was indicted on the following counts:
Count I: Murder
(Robert Sparrow III)
Count II: Kidnapping (Robert
Sparrow III)
Count III: Armed Robbery
(Consuelo Brown)
Count IV: Armed Robbery
(Robert Sparrow Jr.)
Count V: Armed Robbery
(Kahari Graham)
Count VI: Armed Robbery
(Derrick Hosea Dixon)
Count VII: Armed Robbery
(Tracey Williams)
Count VIII: Armed Robbery
(Roderic Gardner)
Count IX: Attempted Armed
Robbery (Tammy Cobb)
Count X: Attempted Armed
Robbery (David Cobb)
Count XI: Burglary
Count XII: Aggravated Assault
(Consuelo Brown)
12/08/97 Stephens pled guilty to Counts 2, 4, 6, and 8-12 of
the indictment.
12/18/97 Stephens was found guilty for Counts 1 and 5 of the
indictment.
Stephens was found not guilty for Counts 3 and 7
of the indictment.
01/15/98 Upon
advisory sentencing, the jury, by a 9 to 3 majority, voted for the death
penalty.
04/07/98 Stephens was sentenced as follows:
Count I: Murder - (Robert Sparrow III) –
Death
Count II: Kidnapping (Robert Sparrow III) –
Life, less 258 days
Count IV: Armed
Robbery (Robert Sparrow Jr.) –
Life, less 258 days
Count V: Armed
Robbery (Kahari Graham) –
Life, less 258 days
Count VI: Armed
Robbery (Derrick Hosea Dixon) –
Life, less 258 days
Count VIII: Armed
Robbery (Roderic Gardner) –
Life, less 258 days
Count IX: Attempted Armed Robbery (Tammy Cobb) –
Life, less 258 days
Count X: Attempted Armed Robbery (David Cobb) –
Life, less 258 days
Count XI: Burglary – 15
years, less 258 days
Count XII: Aggravated Assault (Consuelo Brown) – 15
years, less 258 days
Case Information:
Stephens filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
05/13/98. The issues addressed included that the trial court erred in
denying motions for a new trial, to withdraw robbery plea, for a change
of venue and for a judgment of acquittal. Stephens also argued that the
trial court erred in evaluating mitigating and aggravating factors.
The
Florida Supreme Court did not find errors that warranted reversing the
conviction or sentence and affirmed the conviction and sentence on
03/15/01. Rehearing was denied on 06/04/01. A Mandate was issued on
07/05/01.
Stephens filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari on 09/10/01 with the
United States Supreme Court. The petition was denied on 11/13/01.
Stephens filed a 3.850 Motion with the circuit court on 10/23/02. An
evidentiary hearing was held on 11/20/03. The motion was denied on
04/29/05.
On
07/022/05, Stephens filed 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court.
The appeal is currently pending.
On
08/30/06, Stephens filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the
Florida Supreme Court. The petition is currently pending.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
