Summary of Offense:

Jose Jimenez entered the home of Phyllis Minas, a 63-year-old woman, and beat and stabbed her to death. Minas’ neighbors heard her scream “Oh God, Oh my God!” during the attack. The neighbors attempted to enter the apartment through Minas’ unlocked front door. As they were attempting to enter, Jimenez slammed the front door shut and locked it. Jimenez left the apartment by going through the bedroom and out to the balcony. Jimenez jumped over to the neighboring apartment’s balcony and then jumped down to the ground. When rescue workers arrived within minutes of the attack, Minas was still alive. Jimenez cleaned himself up and changed clothes before approaching neighbors in the hallway. Jimenez asked one of the female neighbors whether he could use her phone to call a cab. Fingerprints were found on the inside of the front door of Minas’ apartment that matched Jimenez’s prints. Jimenez was arrested at his parents’ home in Miami three days after the crime.

Jimenez was sentenced to death in Miami-Dade County on December 14, 1994.