Dillen Murray was a sixteen year old teen killer from Florida who would murder his friend Giovanni Diaz
According to court documents Dillen Murray was jealous of his friend Giovanni Diaz who was in a relationship with a girl that he liked. Murray would invite Giovanni Diaz to join him in the woods to hangout. When Giovanni Diaz arrived he would be beaten to death with a baseball bat
Dillen Murray would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to sixty years in prison
As you can see from the photo below Dillen Murray appearance since going to prison has changed dramatically
Dillen Murray Now
| DC Number: | A90700 |
|---|---|
| Name: | MURRAY, DILLEN A |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 10/25/2001 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 03/09/2022 |
| Current Facility: | GULF C.I. |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | 09/15/2077 |
Dillen Murray Case
The man who prosecutors said brutally beat his friend to death with a baseball bat when they were both teenagers in Polk County was sentenced to 60 years behind bars on Friday, more than three years after he was charged with murder.
Dillen Murray was 16 years old when he was arrested for murdering his friend, 15-year-old Giovanni Diaz. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at the the time that the killing was premeditated and motivated by jealousy over a girl Murray said he loved.
Murray was arrested the same day the incident happened, on March 19, 2018. According to court documents, he gave recorded statements to Polk County detectives saying he and the victim went into the woods to smoke weed and that he brought a baseball bat with him.
When detectives asked Murray how he felt about his actions, documents show the then-teenager said, “I feel bad. I feel like s***. I feel like a monster. I feel like I don’t deserve to live.”
Murray pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Dec. 19, 2019. A sentencing hearing was held earlier this year that featured testimony from experts and friends and family members of Diaz, as well as Murray’s mother.
Court documents show the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing revealed Murray reported having auditory hallucinations when he was 10. He also said he killed animals in the past while coping with anxiety and anger issues, the documents said.
The court announced its decision Friday, sentencing Murray – who is now 20 – to 60 years in Florida State Prison followed by 20 years of probation. According to the order, an individualized judicial review of the sentence will be allowed after 25 years.
Dillen Murray News
A Lake Wales teenager will face up to life in prison when he’s sentenced in April after pleading guilty to fatally beating his friend with a metal baseball bat in a dispute over a girl.
Dillen Alex Murray was 16 two years ago when he lured 15-year-old Giovanni Diaz to a wooded area near Caloosa Lake Village, the mobile home park south of Lake Wales where both boys lived, and bludgeoned him to death. He then called 911, saying he’d just beaten his friend and had left him bleeding in the woods, according to court records.
Murray was taken into custody on allegations of first-degree murder later that day – March 19, 2018 – the same day Diaz died. Diaz was beaten so severely around his face, head, chest and arms that he died less than 30 minutes after Murray had called 911, court records state. Polk County sheriff’s deputies found a bloody, dented baseball bat nearby.
Murray would tell detectives that he had become angry after Diaz told him he’d had sex with a girl Murray had dated and with whom he was still in love.
In a recorded statement the day Diaz died, Murray accused Diaz of initiating a fight by hitting him in the face with his fist and threatening him with the bat, though deputies reported they found no physical signs that Murray had been attacked. Murray said he took the bat from Diaz and used it to defend himself, leading to the fatal blows. He told detectives he struck Diaz in the face while he was lying on the ground to ensure Diaz would never talk badly about the girl again, according to Sheriff’s Office reports.
Murray’s lawyer, Christopher Boldt, of the state’s Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, said Wednesday he anticipates testimony related to Murray’s mental health during the two-day sentencing hearing, scheduled to begin April 1. He declined to comment about the plea, which Murray entered without an agreement with prosecutors.
In February 2019, Boldt and co-counsel Byron Hileman sought an evaluation to determine if Murray was competent to stand trial. As that evaluation moved forward, they filed a separate motion three months later stating their intention to rely on an insanity defense. They cited childhood-onset schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.
In June, after Dillen Murray had been examined by three doctors, Circuit Judge Jalal Harb ruled that he was competent and the criminal case would proceed.
At the same time, Murray’s lawyers were seeking to suppress his confession, arguing that detectives should have heeded Murray’s repeated requests to have his father present during the three-hour interrogation. That motion was still pending when Murray entered his plea in late December, according to court records.
Dillen Murray, now 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and, had he been an adult when the crime occurred, he would have been sentenced to mandatory life in prison. But at 16, he was a juvenile, which affords Harb greater discretion in sentencing.
Murray had been held in the juvenile division of the Polk County Jail until last October, where he was relocated after turning 18. He’s been held without bail since his arrest.
