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A Florida man who killed his 18-year-old girlfriend and their unborn son after she refused to get an abortion is facing the death penalty.
Donovan Faison, 23, was convicted last week in the first-degree murder of Kaylin Fiengo, of killing an unborn child and of burglary with a firearm. The jury later voted 11-1 to sentence Faison to death, the Office of the State Attorney said in a news release Friday.
Faison shot Fiengo in the head as she sat in her car at Coastline Park in Sanford in 2022. Investigators discovered a bullet casing and an ultrasound image near Fiengo’s body.
At trial, prosectors showed messages from their phones that showed Fiengo had texted Faison a photo of two positive pregnancy texts, to which he wrote back, “Abortion!!!”
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Kaylin Fiengo,18, was pregnant when she was shot in the head at a park in Sanford, Florida, in 2022. (Office of the State Attorney 18th Judicial Circuit)
Faison “erupted” at the news of the pregnancy, feeling “angry” and “pressured” because he was living with another woman at the time who suspected him of cheating, according to prosecutors.
When Fiengo refused to terminate the pregnancy, prosecutors said Faison texted a friend, “On my brothers grave, I’m gonna crop her out.”
Donovan Faison, 23, was convicted of murdering Fiengo and their unborn son last week. A jury also voted 11-1 to sentence him to death. (Office of the State Attorney 18th Judicial Circuit)
Further text messages showed Faison then lured Fiengo to a meeting at the park where she shot her dead, prosecutors said.
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During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Fiengo’s mother, father, aunt and grandmother delivered victim impact statements.
A photo of an ultrasound was found next to Fiengo’s body during the investigation. (Office of the State Attorney 18th Judicial Circuit)
“No words can capture the depth of pain that comes with losing your daughter to murder,” said Fiengo’s mother, Sarah Schweickert. “Every day I wake up and face a world that no longer has her smile, her laughter, her hugs. The grief never leaves – it sits in my chest like a weight that will never go away.”
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Faison’s family also gave testimony to the jury, asking for the 23-year-old to be sentenced to life instead of the death penalty.
Circuit Judge Donna Goerner will make the final decision on Faison’s sentence at another hearing on Dec. 5.
