MIAMI — A handyman convicted in the killing of a La Carreta waitress was re-sentenced to death Friday by a Miami-Dade County judge after having his initial sentence overturned.
Rafael Andres, 62, was convicted in 2014 of the 2005 murder of Yvette Farinas, 31.
Detectives said Andres beat, stabbed and strangled Farinas with an electrical cord before setting her home on fire.
According to The Miami Herald, Andres had been hired to do renovations at the efficiency Farinas lived in with her boyfriend.
In 2015, Andres was sentenced to death, but a Florida Supreme Court ruling overturned his sentence.
Within the last year, a jury heard sentencing phase arguments and once again recommended the death penalty.
Miami-Dade County Judge Zachary James on Friday had the final say and could have chosen to override the jury’s recommendation. But the judge followed the jury’s recommendation and sent Andres back to death row.
For Rene Azcarreta, the journey to this punishment goes back decades.
Andres killed his mother, Linda Azcarreta, back in 1987 — a killing Andres only served 18 months in prison for.
“I was 7 years old. So I come home and I see her and she had already passed on,” Rene Azcarreta said.
The judge cited Linda Azcarreta’s death as an important aggravating factor to justify his death sentence for Farinas’s murder.
“The aggregator reflects the prior conviction. The defendant served his sentence and then committed the new felony decades later,” James said.
As Andres awaits his execution date, the families of his two victims will live on, forever linked.
“I love the Farinas (family). They’re the best people,” Rene Azcarreta said. “They lost a daughter, but gained a son. So we have that connection.”
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