SEBRING, Fla. — In addition to changing his plea to guilty, the man accused in the shooting deaths of five women at a SunTrust bank building in 2019 apologized in a handwritten note, court records show.
The new document has been released just one day after Zephen Xaver, 25, pleaded guilty for five counts of premeditated first-degree murder. The now 25-year-old has been sitting behind bars since the shooting in 2019 when he was 21.
"I want to plead guilty to accept responsibility for the murder I committed on January 23, 2019," the note states. "I am sorry for what I did to the victims and their families, and I wish there was something I could do now to change what happened."
The letter was signed on March 14, 2023.
The five women killed were Ana Piñon-Williams, 38; Cynthia Watson, 65; Marisol Lopez, 55; Jessica Montague, 31; and Debra Cook, 54.
Xaver was questioned by the judge about his competency, asking if he understood full well the consequences of pleading guilty — ultimately that the state is pursuing the death penalty.
"Yes, ma'am," Xaver said several times, including the understanding that the start of a jury trial was set to begin in January 2024. The judge also asked if he understood the rights he was giving up to which Xaver answered, "yes, ma'am."
Now that Xaver has pleaded guilty, the case moves on to the penalty phase.