He killed a cop.
In the Emerald Hills neighborhood of Hollywood on Oct. 18, 2021, Jason Banegas was confronted by Hollywood Police officer Yandy Chirino, who was responding to a call about someone breaking into cars. Banegas had a gun. He and Chirino struggled over it, according to statements Banegas has made since that night. The gun went off. Chirino did not live.
Neither should Banegas, prosecutors told a Broward jury Tuesday.
Hollywood police officer Henry Martinez reads his victim’s impact statement on Tuesday. Martinez was best friends with Hollywood Police Officer Yandy Chirino, and was on the scene when Chirino was shot and killed. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Banegas pleaded guilty in late October to one count of first-degree murder in connection with Chirino’s death, acknowledging that the only question that needs to be resolved by a jury is whether he should serve life in prison or be executed for the crime.
Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley, in her opening statement, made it clear Tuesday that jurors would be justified in imposing the death penalty, which applies in cases where the death is determined by a jury to be especially “heinous atrocious and cruel” and in cases where the victim is an on-duty law enforcement officer.
Michael Orlando, defense lawyer for Banegas, waived his opening statement until after the state has finished presenting its case. The jury heard one side of the story Tuesday, Bradley’s, as conveyed by the prosecutor and by Hollywood Police Officer Manuel Blevins, a colleague who was first on the scene and who struggled emotionally to explain what he saw to the jury.
Jason Banegas watches as a police interrogation video taken as he was questioned after the shooting of Hollywood Police Officer Yandy Chirino is played in court. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
To recommend a death sentence, jurors must find that prosecutors have proved aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. They must also consider whether those aggravating factors outweigh mitigators that will be presented by the defense when it’s their turn to present their case. Eight of the 12 jurors chosen to hear the case must recommend death in order to authorize Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra to impose the sentence.
Chirino was a four-year veteran of the Hollywood Police Department when he died.
Joe Cavaretta / South Florida Sun Sentinel
icer Yandy Chirino, 28, a four-year veteran of the Hollywood Police Department, died after being shot on Oct. 17, 2021. (Hollywood Police Department/Courtesy)
It’s rare for a defendant in a capital case to plead guilty, especially without an agreement with prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table. The last high-profile defendant to plead guilty and go straight to the penalty phase was Parkland mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, who managed to convince three jurors to sentence him to life instead of death in 2022. At the time, a jury’s death recommendation had to be unanimous. Outrage over the decision spurred the Florida Legislature to pass a new law requiring a two-thirds majority to authorize the death penalty.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.