BOCA RATON, Fla. — Prosecutors with the State Attorney's Office filed their intent to seek the death penalty for a Florida delivery man who is accused of beating and setting a 75-year-old woman on fire on Aug. 19.
Reasoning listed in the court document outlines that the crime was "heinous, atrocious or cruel," committed for monetary gain and due to the nature of the crime.
Boca Raton Police Services Department said Jorge Luis Dupre Lachazo was delivering a washer and dryer from Best Buy to Evelyn Udell, 75, at her Boca Raton home when he beat her with a mallet, doused her with a chemical and set her on fire.
At the time Lachazo was with a co-worker who told police at one point during the visit, he stepped outside to make phone calls back to the office. Then, he said he heard screams from inside the home and found blood and Udell on the floor.
That same co-worker called 911 while, police say Lachazo took off in the delivery truck. Police were able to stop the truck before it left the neighborhood where the attack allegedly occurred.
During an interview, police said Lachazo admitted to hitting Udell, dousing her with a liquid chemical and using cocaine and marijuana earlier in the day.
Udell's family has filed a lawsuit against Best Buy, JB Hunt and XM Services Inc. Her family also wants changes to how employers screen in-home service workers.
Best Buy contracted with the delivery company JB Hunt, which in turn sub-contracted with XM Delivery, of Miami.
“Had this company conducted a background check on this particular person this incident never happens, Evy Udell is not dead” said attorney John Morgan of Morgan and Morgan.
Lachzao's charges include first-degree murder with a weapon, burglary with assault or battery while armed, robbery with a weapon, first-degree arson, second-degree murder with a weapon and aggravated battery on a person 65 year's old or older.
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