Summary of Offense:
Lionel Miller was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the fatal stabbing of 72-year-old Jerry Smith and the attempted murder of a neighbor who tried to save her life. According to witness testimony and Miller's confession to Orlando police, he had seen Smith wearing a lot of jewelry while tending to her yard. After an Easter Sunday that started with church services and a family brunch, Smith encountered Miller about 8 p.m. The two struck up a conversation, and she offered Miller water and invited him inside. There, they talked about Key West, and Smith was "as nice as she could be" while showing off her paintings, the judge quoted Miller as saying. But then the woman "sensed something was wrong" and opened the blinds of a window so people could see inside. Miller threw her onto the couch. She started screaming and fled out the back door. In an attempt to silence her screams, Miller stabbed her in the back, side and arm, causing a "very torturous, painful, fearful death," Perry said. Neighbor Larry Haydon, who heard the screams, was stabbed once by Miller when he tried to stop the attack. Perry sentenced Miller to a life sentence for that attempted murder, plus two more life sentences for burglary and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.
Miller was sentenced to death in Orange County on February 1, 2008.
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