TAMPA, Fla. — Editor's note: The above video is from previous coverage of Oneal's trial.
Ronnie Oneal is set to be formally sentenced Friday for the double murder of his girlfriend and daughter.
Oneal will appear at 10 a.m. Friday before a judge. A motion for a new trial is expected before the judge's sentencing. And, impact statements from those victimized in Oneal's crime will also take place before the judge announces Oneal's sentence.
In June, 32-year-old Oneal was found guilty by a jury for the 2018 murders of his girlfriend Kenyatta Barron and their 9-year-old daughter. The jury also found Oneal guilty of the attempted murder of his then-8-year-old son, who he stabbed and lit of fire.
He was additionally convicted of arson and aggravated child abuse.
However, the jury ultimately recommended a life sentence over the death penalty. In Florida, jurors must unanimously agree to a recommendation for death before a judge can impose such a sentence.
Oneal's defense team, which took over during the penalty phase of the double murder trial, urged the jury to consider his PTSD and prior abuse in their decision.
Among several bombshells dropped by Oneal's defense attorneys was the revelation that Oneal was sexually abused and “violently raped” when he was a young child by family members and/or family friends.
Oneal's son, now 11, testified against his father during the trial, recalling his father's attack in March 2018 at their Riverview home. The child claimed Oneal tried to recruit him to help kill his mother with a 12-gage shotgun.
"My dad said, 'Come in here and come kill this B word,' and then I went in the room and he handed me a shotgun and help me shoot it," Oneal's son said during the trial. He said he never did see his father fire the deadly shot but recalled his mom coming outside afterward.
Oneal would then hit his daughter in the back of the head with an ax and stab his son several times and set him on fire, the child said.
Oneal represented himself during the trial, claiming law enforcement tampered with evidence, and he had acted in self-defense. But before the trial even began, he told prospective jurors he believes in the death penalty while addressing them in court.
"When it comes to the death penalty, I just want to let you all know that, me personally, I am for it. If somebody has committed these crimes, they are worthy of death," he said.
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