A murderer who killed two boys by hitting them with a hammer and slitting their throats will face the death penalty.
Mark Wilson, 32, was found guilty earlier this month of the first-degree murder of 14-year-old Tatyen and 12-year-old Robert Baker, who died in the horrifying attack in August 2020.
He has now been handed a death sentence after a jury unanimously recommended the punishment on Friday following a long week of testimony.
Putnam County sheriff Kevin McConville described the murder scene as one of the worst he had ever seen.
The court heard how Wilson had been living in a shed on the shared family property with his partner - an aunt to the boys - when he launched into the fatal assault, which saw him beat the children with a hammer before frantically slashing at their throats.
Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Dunton told the jury that examinations showed Wilson had either tried to slit older brother Tayten's throat multiple times or saw through his neck.
Younger brother Robert's neck, meanwhile, appeared to have been slashed "end to end", resulting in near-decapitation.
The boy's mother Sarah Baker recalled in her testimony seeing Wilson sharpening a knife outside the night before, one which authorities said would later be used to kill her children.
Describing the horrific scene she found after the killings, Ms Baker told WJXT: "I ran over to Robert, and I’m screaming at him to call 911, and I rip his blanket off and all I can remember is his head flipped forward and then it banged back up against the wall. "
"He was the same thing, soaked in blood, and I didn’t get a good look at what his injuries looked like, but I did as far as Tayten’s. In that moment, I started screaming at the top of my lungs.
Speaking at a news conference shortly after the incident State Attorney R.J. Larizza said: "I can tell you, I’ve been working in the criminal justice system since 1980 and these are some of the most brutal murders that I’ve ever heard of. He attacked these two kids without mercy."
The murderer's mother, Chrisy Adkins, was said to have given crucial evidence that lead to her son's arrest after agreeing to record a conversation with her son as a confidential informant.
She said: "I told Mark that he needed to cooperate. Take a lie detector test and clear his name. He got out of the bed, and he said, 'Mom, I can’t do that,' and I asked if he hurt those babies… and in a voice that wasn't his own, he said, 'Yes, mom, I did it.'"
Ms Adkins said that Wilson would sometimes speak in a strange voice when using drugs.
The murderer was additionally reported saying in a recorded conversation that he had killed the boys, as he believed the family was about to report him and his wife to the Department of Children and Families.
He also claimed he and his wife had plotted to annihilate the entire family.
