Rejecting jury, judge gives life

TAMPA -- Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett on Monday overturned a jury's recommendation for the death penalty in the murder of a cerebral palsy victim who was stabbed 39 times.

The judge instead imposed a life sentence on Troy Lee Green, 47, a mechanic who attacked 34-year-old DeCarla Dixon in her Tampa home in 2000.

In January, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and, by an 8-4 vote, said he should be executed.

But Padgett said in his sentencing order that Dixon's death was not "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."

"This court has handled many cases involving killing by stabbing," Padgett wrote. "In some the state sought the death penalty, in some it did not. But all of these cases involved multiple wounds. That is the nature of killing by stabbing."

The victim's aunt said the ruling didn't upset her.

"He did get punished," Everlena Stewart said. "I have to accept it."

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