Jurors Recommend Death Penalty for Miami Lakes Love Triangle Killer – NBC 6 South Florida

A jury has recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of murder stemming from a complicated love triangle more than a decade ago.

Eight of 12 jurors on Thursday recommended the death penalty rather than life in prison for Ysrael Granda, who was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the 2012 death of Jose Soto, 42, in Miami Lakes.

Granda, from her prison cell, ordered her girlfriend's new partner, Soto, to be killed.

“He planned. He was the mastermind,” prosecutor Joshua Weintraub said. “If it weren't for Ysrael Granda, José Soto would be alive today. That's why he should receive the harshest sentence.”

A love triangle escalated when a man ordered the murder of his girlfriend's new partner from prison. Now that man could face the death penalty after jurors found him guilty of murder. NBC6's Christian Colón reports

Although Granda was not the shooter, prosecutors said the killing was cold and calculated, that he was manipulative and that it was not the first time he had been convicted of ordering others to commit crimes for him.

“He breaks the rules, he needs attention, he needs constant stimulation. That’s what this defendant is about,” Weintraub said.

Granda's lawyers portrayed a man who had a traumatic childhood – a victim of assault who suffered brain damage. The defense blamed his girlfriend – Lisiana Quintero – who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 years in prison for helping kill Soto, her new boyfriend.

“While she's fucking Soto, she's also planning his murder,” defense attorney Bruce Fleischer said. “She's cold, calculated and premeditated, why would she plot murder if she still loved Israel?”

The suspected shooter, Jonathan Rico, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, but not first-degree murder. However, after being acquitted of the murder charge, Rico avoided the death penalty and is awaiting his own sentencing.

A Miami-Dade jury has long since stopped short of recommending the death penalty. The judge has the final say, with another hearing scheduled for later this year.