Closing arguments wrapped up late Monday afternoon in the death penalty trial of 42-year-old Alberto Sierra in a Miami courtroom. Both sides presented their final arguments throughout the day, and the jury will now decide whether he should be sentenced to death.
Sierra pleaded guilty in August to the 2012 murders of his wife, 29-year-old Gladys Machado, and her two daughters, 6-year-old Julia Padrino and 3-year-old Daniela Padrino. He confessed to suffocating the victims with a plastic bag and to sexually assaulting Machado and Julia. During the trial, prosecutors used a small mannequin to show how Daniela was killed.
Prosecutor Abbe Rifkin told jurors Sierra chose death at every opportunity, when he could have chosen life. Prosecutors argued the killings were cold and calculated and asked jurors to weigh the aggravating factors.
Defense attorney Khurrum Wahid argued that Sierra’s decision-making was permanently altered after he was struck by a car at age 12. Wahid said Sierra was diagnosed with a personality disorder and told jurors that no one chooses to have a mental disorder or brain damage.
Eight of the 12 jurors must recommend the death penalty. The trial judge will make the final sentencing decision.
