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State to seek the death penalty for man indicted in murders of Putnam County boys killed with hammer, knife

Mark Wilson Jr., 30, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, a count of burglary with a battery and burglary while armed.

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Mark Wilson Jr. faces the death penalty in the brutal murder of two boys found dead in their Melrose mobile home on Aug. 26. He was indicted Tuesday.

"We believe that the capital felonies or murders were especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel," State Attorney R.J. Larizza said.

Wilson, 30, is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of 14-year-old Tayten Baker and 12-year-old Robert Baker, who investigators say were stabbed with a knife and bludgeoned with a hammer.

Larizza said prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty with a list of aggravating factors in the murders.

"We believe that they were committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner," he said.

Putnam County Sheriff DeLoach was also in the virtual news conference. DeLoach said it'll be up to a jury to hear the case and decide the facts, but "this was truly one of the most horrific crime scenes that [I've] ever seen in my life." 

An arrest report First Coast News obtained in September, quoted investigators saying Wilson confessed that he and his girlfriend, the boys' aunt, planned to kill the entire family.

A day after the murders, the sheriff's office report says, a recorded meeting between Wilson and an unnamed witness took place in which Wilson admitted he and his girlfriend planned to split up the killings. According to the report, Wilson said he would be in charge of killing the boys while his girlfriend supposed to kill the mother and the boys' 4-year-old sibling.

"Mark went on to say he was angry because [the girlfriend] did not follow through after he killed the two boys," the police report states.

The aunt is not facing any charges at this time.

According to the PCSO document, Wilson said he killed the boys because "he felt the boys' family was trying to put stress on his family by reporting them to [the Florida Department of Children and Families]."

It was not made clear why Wilson's family would have been reported to DCF.

Investigators said Wilson and the aunt were invited by the family to live on their property because the two were homeless.

Wilson has an extensive criminal history involving drugs and property crimes, but no former violence, according to the Putnam County Sheriff.

Larizza said prosecutors consulted with the boys’ family, and seeking the death penalty “was not a difficult decision to make.”

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