ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The state is seeking the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing a 13-year-old girl to death on the Fourth of July.
Jerry Dorisme was indicted by a grand jury in August on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm or terrorize, sexual battery, and attempted sexual battery in the death of Rose Diejuste.
Prosecutors filed a notice of intent on Oct. 8 to seek the death penalty if Dorisme is found guilty of murder in the girl’s death.
Last month, Dorisme’s attorney said a doctor found Dorisme incompetent to stand trial and the state requested another evaluation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.
Dieujuste, 13, was found July 4 with “obvious signs of trauma” at a complex along South Rio Grande Avenue. Orange County Sheriff John Mina said the girl was “senselessly and brutally murdered” and found half-naked in the closet.
“She had been stabbed, and she was barely alive,” Mina said during a news conference. “Unfortunately, she was transported to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.”
Dorisme was arrested after the sheriff’s office released surveillance video of a man leaving the parking lot of the complex and received tips from the community, Mina said.
“Rose was on her way to visit another friend in the building in that same complex. When she was attacked, her friend found Rose’s cell phone and shoes on the staircase in that apartment building and reached out to Rose’s family,” Mina said.
Mina said surveillance video showed Dorisme following the girl at a distance while she was heading to her friend’s apartment.
Dorisme was previously arrested on a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child in 2020, according to the sheriff, but the charge was “ultimately dropped to child abuse.” Prior to the girl’s death, Mina said deputies were called about a man walking down the street with a knife. According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, the incident happened on June 18 on Silver Star Road.
Residents in the area told deputies he had been seen in the past watching girls in the area.
A status hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday.
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