At least one of two people charged in the January murder of a 78-year-old Gainesville man could face the death penalty.
A grand jury indicted Maranda J. Martin, 22, of Fort White, and her cousin, Austin M. Jones, 22, of Mulberry, on eight counts Wednesday, including first-degree murder, kidnapping and home-invasion robbery. Jones was also indicted for attempting to elude police and carrying a concealed firearm.
State Attorney Bill Cervone will seek the death penalty for Jones, spokesman Spencer Mann said Thursday. Cervone has not decided whether to pursue the death penalty for Martin because he has not finished reviewing her case.
Before making a decision, Cervone will consider how violent Martin was during the robbery, her past criminal record and her mental state, among other elements, Mann said.
After her arrest on Jan. 10, Martin told police she watched as Jones beat Quandt. She did not say whether she participated.
On the evening of Jan. 9, Jones and Martin wore masks and broke into Paul Quandt's house at 4854 NW 75th Road, according to an arrest report. Martin used to work for a company that provided home aid for Quandt. She knew he owned a safe.
Martin and Jones brought two rolls of tape, a stun gun and a pair of pistols, according to police. When Quandt refused to provide the combination of the safe, he was beaten, shot with the stun gun and bound at the hands with tape.
Martin and Jones put Quandt's safe into his white 2001 Cadillac DeVille. They stole jewelry, guns, electronics, watches, coins, credit cards, alcohol, medication and other goods, according to the grand jury indictment.
After they left, Quandt, a military veteran, loosened the tape with cooking oil, crawled to his motorized scooter and drove next-door, where he alerted a neighbor. Quandt then slipped into a coma and died a week later.
GPD caught Jones shortly after midnight when a high-speed chase ended with a three-car crash on Southwest 13th Street. Martin, who drove away from Quandt's house in a separate car, turned herself in later that morning after GPD identified her as a suspect.
