SEBRING, Fla. — It was an emotional day in a Highlands County courtroom as the sentencing trial for Zephen Xaver continues.
Xaver has admitted to shooting and killing five women at the SunTrust Bank in Sebring on Jan. 23, 2019. The sentencing will determine whether he will face life in prison or the death penalty.
Friday, the victim’s families and friends were on the stand to share how their murders have impacted them. It was an emotional day, filled with tears, that marked the close of the prosecutor's case.
April Nelson, daughter of bank customer Cynthia Watson, said she and others were also victims of this heinous crime.
"When you lose a loved one to murder, you also lose yourself," Nelson said. "It's not just the dead whose lives were taken that day, it was everyone who loved them, it was dozens and dozens of lives."
Nelson said she now lives in fear.
"I'm in therapy three times a week, I have post-traumatic stress disorder. I didn't want to leave my house because it was the only place I had left where I felt safe. It took me six months to go to the bank and still, I only use the drive-through," Nelson added.
Pricilla Garza, the daughter of banker trainee Ana Pinon-Williams, recalled the horrible moment she and her family learned Ana was among the victims.
Garza said, "I see my grandma pass out from pure shock that her baby girl is gone. I fell to the ground in agony, she’s gone, my first love and my mommy."
Michael Cook, the husband of bank teller Debra Cook, shared that her death led their son to drink himself to death.
Cook said, "When Debbie was killed, it sent him over the edge. His drinking became so heavy that he finally fell into a coma."
Victor Lopez, the husband of bank teller coordinator Marisol Lopez, described the void her loss has left in his family.
"I miss our daily routines that we built together. I'm afraid of my future now that I don't have my Marisol," Lopez said.
And Tina Warner, the mother of banker Jessica Montague, said her family is frozen in memories of 2019.
"Jessica was a loving caring sister and was just starting to teach her brother Michael to drive and now he has no interest in driving because that’s the last thing he did with Jessie," Warner said.
In addition to the victim impact statements Friday, the jury heard from the lead detective as he and the prosecutor read through entries found on the notes app on Xaver’s phone.
They detailed his gruesome thoughts of death, where among other things, he wrote, “I cannot help but wonder what it would feel like to really kill.”
His phone also showed he had searched for the bank on his phone online before the shooting.
Now that the state has rested its case, we expect the defense to present its case to the jury starting Monday.