When 12 Polk County jurors begin deliberating Tuesday whether to recommend a life sentence or the death penalty for convicted Lakeland murderer Marcelle Waldon, they will have almost no testimony from the defense to consider.
Waldon, 39, has waived his right to present evidence supporting a life sentence.
Under questioning in court Monday by Circuit Judge Kevin Abdoney, Waldon acknowledged that his lawyers had advised him against the waiver, but he stood by his decision. He responded with mostly one-word answers, and didn’t offer to explain his reasoning.
Abdoney asked if he had been hearing voices or if anyone had pressured him in his decision, and Waldon answered no.
Last week, the same 12 jurors deliberated about two hours before finding Waldon guilty of brutally murdering David Henderson, 63, and his 67-year-old wife, former City Commissioner Edie Yates Henderson, in their home along Lake Morton in Lakeland more than three years ago. Waldon was convicted of repeatedly stabbing each of them, stealing their Audi and forcing Edie Henderson to write him a check for $5,000, according to court testimony. The charred remains of the car was discovered later that night.
Prosecutors have cited six of the state’s 16 statutory reasons for imposing a death sentence, and will present those points to the jury during closing arguments Tuesday. The six reasons, called aggravating factors, include that the killings occurred during a robbery, were done in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner and were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.
Tampa defense lawyer Daniel Hernandez, co-counsel with Debra Tuomey in representing Waldon, told the court Monday that a psychologist was outside the courtroom and prepared to testify on the defendant’s behalf should he change his mind.
According to court records, Dr. Hyman Eisenstein of Miami had determined Waldon was under extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the killings and his ability to understand the criminality of his actions was substantially impaired.
Abdoney said jurors would be able to consider any testimony from the guilt phase of the trial that might favor a life sentence, even though none would be presented in the penalty phase.
During more than a week of testimony in the guilt phase, prosecutors told jurors Waldon didn’t know the Hendersons, but was familiar with the neighborhood and the couple’s routine. He came into the house through an unlocked door that November morning, and used his cell phone to take pictures of the still-alive couple after putting them in a closet with their hands and feet bound.
Physical evidence and the check Waldon unsuccessfully tried to cash at a Lakeland AMSCOT office led to his arrest, linking him to the murders, according to Lakeland Police reports. He has remained in the Polk County Jail without bail since his arrest on Nov. 11, 2020, the day after the murders.
Family members described the magnitude of their loss in emotional testimony Monday. WFLA News Channel 8 quoted Sarah Baylis, Edie Yates Henderson’s daughter-in-law, as saying: “Every milestone with my children since their deaths have been overshadowed with the thought that Edie and David aren’t here for it…every birthday, every first day of school.”
What happens next
When jurors begin their deliberations after closing arguments Tuesday, they will consider each of the state’s six aggravating factors and must decide whether prosecutors have proven each one, in each killing, before it can be considered in their verdict.
If the jurors decide none of them has been proven, the jury recommendation must be a life sentence.
If they agree at least one factor has been proven, jurors then move to their recommendation of life or the death penalty for each of the two murders. Under a new Florida law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, death penalty recommendations no longer have to be unanimous. If at least eight of the 12 jurors believe Waldon should be sentenced to death, that’s the recommendation that goes to the judge.
The final decision on sentencing will lie with Abdoney. He can override a death recommendation in favor of life imprisonment, but cannot override a jury recommendation for life.
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