USA - Florida. A jury has recommended the death penalty for Ana Maria Cardona, 49, hispanic

A Miami-Dade jury has recommended 7-5 the death penalty for Ana Maria Cardona, 49, hispanic, the mother twice convicted of killing the 3-year-old boy. The same jury found her guilty in July of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse for the 1990 death of Lazaro Figueroa. Cardona was first convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death, but on July 11, 2002 (see) a new trial was ordered by the Florida Supreme Court. The court ordered a new trial because prosecutors didn’t tell the defense that her girlfriend, the key witness, also admitted to abusing the little boy. Olivia Gonzalez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years. Prosecutors claimed Cardona beat her son with a baseball bat. The state appealed, but in 2008 the Florida Supreme Court confirmed the trial was to be repeated.