Ricardo Gill got what he asked for: a death sentence.

Ricardo Gill got what he asked for: a death sentence. Gill, 36, was 1st convicted of murder in the 1999 fatal beating and stabbing of Beverly Moore. In 2001, Gill pleaded guilty in the case, telling Circuit Court Judge Stan Morris he would prefer to be put to death for a crime he had not committed than spend his life in prison. Gill also told Morris that if he did not receive a death sentence for Moore's murder, another judge would have to impose it. Morris cited Gill's extensive mental health history in sentencing him to life in prison. The judge also notified prison officials of the apparent threat Gill had issued. 4 days later, Gill's cellmate at the Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler was found strangled to death. Orlando Rosello had been serving a 20-month state prison term for car theft.
A year ago, on July 8, Gill pleaded guilty to murdering Rosello and told Circuit Court Judge Robert Cates to sentence him to death or expect another person to die.
Gill's court-appointed, standby attorneys, John Stokes and Bill Salmon, made no arguments on Gill's behalf at his direction.
In conclusion, Cates wrote that Gill could be sentenced to death, "despite the fact yet Ricardo Ignacio Gill is a deeply troubled individual with a long history of mental health problems, mental disturbances, suicidal impulses and a life primarily spent in penal institutions."