Man accused of killing mother rejects plea deal

TAMPA, Fla. - A man accused of beating his mother to death with a baseball bat said "no" to 60 years in prison.  

That was the offer made by the Hillsborough County State Attorneys Office made recently.

Instead, Joshua Carmona decided he will leave his fate up to a jury.

Prosecutor Jay Pruner said he wants to make sure what Carmona said during his confession to investigators does not garner the defendant sympathy.

"His depression or his relationship with his mother, ad nauseam, would not be relevant to any issue before the jury," said Pruner.

Carmona allegedly described the murder in detail, saying “she fell down but she wasn’t out so I just kept hitting her until she stopped."

He also talked about the resentment he had towards his mother for “not being there for him“ and said he wanted to kill her for a while.

His defense attorney, Dana Herce said the jury should hear Carmona's story, in his own words.

"In terms of the mother abandoning him as a child, I think it’s important in a first-degree murder case, with my client accused of killing his mother, that the jury hear the context of the whole relationship,"  said Herce.

Carmona seems to have had a soft spot for his little sister who he picked up from daycare after the alleged killing. 

In his confession to detectives, Carmona worried what this would do to his little sister.

The trial is set for January 2020.