William Sweet was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of thirteen year old Felicia Bryant
According to court documents William Sweet participated in a robbery. When he saw one of the victims talking to the police he made a dumb plan. That night he would break into a home where he would shoot the victim from the earlier robbery and thirteen year old Felicia Bryant. Felicia would die from her injuries
William Sweet would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
William Sweet Photos
William Sweet Now
| DC Number: | 100063 |
|---|---|
| Name: | SWEET, WILLIAM E |
| Race: | BLACK |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 10/03/1967 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 08/30/1991 |
| Current Facility: | UNION C.I. |
| Current Custody: | MAXIMUM |
| Current Release Date: | DEATH SENTENCE |
William Sweet Case
On June 6, 1990, Marcine Cofer was attacked in her apartment and beaten and robbed by three men. She could identify two of the men by their street names. On June 26, 1990, she was taken by Detective Robinson to the police station to look at pictures to attempt to identify the third assailant. When Robinson dropped Cofer off at her apartment, William Sweet was standing nearby and saw her leave the detective. Unknown to Cofer, Sweet had previously implicated himself in the robbery by telling a friend that he had committed the robbery or that he had ordered it done. Cofer asked her next-door neighbor, Mattie Bryant, to allow the neighbor’s daughters, Felicia, thirteen, and Sharon, twelve, to stay with Cofer in her apartment that night. Mattie agreed, and the children went over to Cofer’s apartment around 8 p.m.
At approximately 1 a.m. that evening, Sharon was watching television in the living room of Cofer’s apartment when she heard a loud kick on the apartment door. She reported this to Cofer, who was sleeping in the bedroom, but because the person had apparently left, Cofer told Sharon not to worry about it and went back to sleep. Shortly thereafter, Sharon saw someone pulling on the living room screen. She awakened Cofer. The two then went to the door of the apartment, looked out the peephole, and saw Sweet standing outside. Sweet called Cofer by name and ordered her to open the door.
At Cofer’s direction, Felicia pounded on the bathroom wall to get Mattie’s attention in the apartment next door, and a few minutes later Mattie came over. The four then lined up at the door, with Cofer standing in the back of the group. When they opened the door to leave, Sweet got his foot in the door and forced his way into the apartment. Sweet’s face was partially covered by a pair of pants. He first shot Cofer and then shot the other three people, killing Felicia. Six shots were fired. Cofer, Mattie, and Sharon were shot in the thigh, ankle and thigh, and buttock, respectively, and Felicia was shot in the hand and in the abdomen.
Sweet was convicted of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and burglary. The jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of ten to two, and the trial court followed this recommendation.
https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1993/78629-0.html