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The Jessica Lunsford tragedy

Cheers and prayers

The crowd at a Homosassa restaurant greets the news of Couey's verdict with relief - and calls for vengeance.

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published March 8, 2007

HOMOSASSA - The owner of Margueritagrill reached for a microphone and announced that the jury had reached a verdict.

Silence washed over the restaurant crowd.

This was the same crowd of locals that usually gathers for the restaurant's raucous, flag-waving ceremonies to remember the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Now they were firmly planted in front of two televisions screens, staring at the face of the man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing Jessica Lunsford - their little girl.

Everyone waited to hear his fate.

A row of men near the bar had their fists clenched and one woman in the back silently prayed in anticipation.

Even the cook and the servers, who moments earlier had been parading around with margaritas as big as basketballs, stopped dead in their tracks to watch.

When the first verdict was read, the silence was broken. The crowd erupted in cheers.

John Couey was guilty of murder.

"Hang him," one man shouted when the third guilty verdict came on the kidnapping charge.

"Bring him here for a 30-minute lunch," roared restaurant owner Tommy Piliouras.

On the last guilty verdict, the woman who was praying earlier wept.

Customers at this patriotic restaurant in the heart of Homosassa were relieved. They had waited two years for justice, they said. Now, they hoped that the community can move on.

Many speculated about Couey's punishment.

Even before the guilty verdict was read, which all said didn't surprise them, they talked about the kind of justice they would like to impose on Couey.

"The electric chair is too good for him," said Pete Peterson, 79, a retired bullfighter.

Several seats down, Jeff Rogers, 35, a business owner, said: "Justice is burying him alive the same way Jessie was."

His buddy Leon McClellan, 29, a dairy farmer, said he hopes Couey will be put to death - soon.

"If he was being tried in Texas, they'd gone and feed him to the vultures already," he said.

Piliouras, the owner, had his own recommendation:

"My heart calls out for revenge," he said. "Let him loose in Homosassa and bring him here. I would dig a hole, throw him in there, put honey on his face and let red ants loose. That will make national news and teach sexual offenders not to molest children."

Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.

[Last modified March 7, 2007, 23:10:03]