Facts of the Crime:
Steven Stein was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of Dennis Saunders and Bobby Hood. On January 20, 1991, Dennis Saunders and Bobby Hood, shift supervisors at the Edgewood Avenue Pizza Hut, were shot to death in the store. Saunders was shot four times and Hood was shot five times. A sum of $980 also was taken from the restaurant. The bodies of Saunders and Hood were found the next day in the men’s bathroom of the Pizza Hut.
Ronald Burroughs, an employee, had left the restaurant shortly after 11 p.m. He testified that two customers were still inside when he left. Burroughs identified the customers as Steven Stein and Marc christmas, the co-defendant. Stein was a Pizza Hut employee and Christmas was a former employee of Pizza Hut. The police also found Christmas’s fingerprint on the unpaid guest check. Kyle White, the roommate of Stein and Christmas, testified that Stein and Christmas had discussed how to rob a Pizza Hut restaurant.
On January 20, 1991, Stein and Christmas left the apartment about 9:30 p.m. with a rifle and claimed they were going to see Christmas’s father about selling it. Christmas’ father, however, testified that Stein nor Christmas came to see him that night. Stein and Christmas were back home by 11:45 p.m. After being arrested, Stein gave a statement to the police. Stein waived his rights and said that he wanted to talk about the crime. Stein admitted to being part of the robbery and said that it had “gone bad.” He never admitted to shooting either Saunders or Hood.
Stein was sentenced to death in Duval County on July 23, 1991.
Co-defendant information:
Marc Christmas (Duval County Circuit Court # 91-1504) was convicted of three counts for his involvement in the crimes that occurred on January 20, 1991. Christmas was sentenced on November 12, 1991. He received three life sentences for the two counts of first-degree murder during the commission of a felony and for one count of robbery with a deadly weapon.
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