HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) – The second day in the sentencing of a man who killed a Hollywood Police officer and now faces the death penalty got underway in a Broward County courtroom.
A jury reconvened Wednesday in the death penalty trial of now 22-year-old Jason Banegas, who killed Hollywood Police Officer Yandy Chirino back in 2021.
Banegas sat stone-faced in the courtroom as he awaits the jury’s decision. Jurors are now tasked with deciding whether he’ll serve life in prison or be sentenced to death.
In court Wednesday, jurors listened to testimony and observed evidence that included autopsy photos, as they prepare to make a decision.
The morning’s proceedings were routine in nature, when compared to emotional testimony from two Hollywood Police officers who broke down on the stand, Tuesday.
“His death didn’t just take a friend away from me; it took away a future he deserved to live,” said Hollywood Police Officer Henry Martinez.
The officers who took the stand remembered their friend and fallen officer who was killed in the line of duty.
“I am grateful that I had the privilege to know him, to walk through life beside him,” said Martinez.
Chirino’s life was tragically cut short in October 2021 when then 18-year-old Banegas shot him to death. The defendant has since pleaded guilty.
“It took away a future he deserved to live, it took away his hopes, his plans, his moments that will never happen,” said Martinez.
According to police, Chirino was shot by Banegas in an armed struggle when Chirino responded to reports of an individual checking car handles for unlocked vehicles.
Other officers raced to help when Chirino was shot in the midst of the fight that broke out when the pair made contact.
“He was pointing at his face,” said Hollywood Police Detective Manuel Rodriguez-Blevins.
“What could you see?” said a prosecutor.
“I could tell that he’d been shot,” said Rodriguez-Blevins.
Martinez recounted his final moments with Chirino to the court.
“How did you know Officer Chirino was still alive on the drive to the hospital?” asked the prosecutor.
“He was squeezing my finger,” said Martinez.
Officer Chirino would not survive. In court Tuesday, his friends on the force told the jury he was one of a kind.
“I had the privilege of knowing one of the best human beings God has created, a man who loved his family, loved his job and lived every day fully,” said Martinez.
Only eight of the 12 jurors have to vote yes in order for Banegas to be sentenced to death.
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