Silvio Izquierdo-Leyva appears for arraignment with Lyann Goudie, left, of the Public Defender's Office and courtroom interpreter Eugene J. Niemierzycki. [Times photo: Tony Lopez]

By GRAHAM BRINK

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 19, 2000

TAMPA -- A court hearing Tuesday marked the first time Elisa Leal had seen in person the man accused of killing her sister-in-law.

She didn't expect the rush of emotion when she saw Silvio Izquierdo-Leyva, shackled at the wrists and dressed in orange jail clothes. Tears formed in Leal's eyes as she thought of her sister-in-law, Delores Perdomo, and the four other people Izquierdo is accused of killing in a Dec. 30 shooting rampage.

"We will be living with this the rest of our lives," Leal said after the hearing. Izquierdo pleaded innocent to 20 separate charges at the arraignment hearing Tuesday in Hillsborough Circuit Court. During the five-minute hearing, there was no discussion of what prompted the shooting or whether Izquierdo intends to use an insanity defense.

The 36-year-old Cuban refugee is accused of killing four co-workers and injuring three others at the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel on the Courtney Campbell Parkway before fleeing in a stolen car, police said. Those killed at the hotel were Eric Pedroso, 29, Barbara Carter, 55, Jose R. Aguilar, 40, and George C. Jones, 44.

Izquierdo abandoned the car in West Tampa, where he killed Perdomo after a struggle over her car, police said. Izquierdo faces five counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder with a firearm, three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, two counts of carjacking with a firearm and three counts of attempted carjacking. He is being held without bail at a Hillsborough County jail. Prosecutor Shirley Williams confirmed that the state will seek the death penalty.

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