Prosecutors will seek death penalty in beating death of St. Petersburg man

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - One month after a man pleaded for his life during a gruesome beating, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the accused killer.

Scott Jenks, 48, left The Sports Bar and Grill in St. Pete’s Northgate Center on January 14 only to be brutally beaten for over an hour in the parking lot.

“An hour and nineteen minutes of him just beating him, it’s just unheard of,” Jenks' sister, Lina Young said. “I just can’t see why somebody would be that mean and so hateful. And when he begged for his life, it’s just something that should never have happened.”

A month after her brother's death, she's still trying to figure out why he died in the first place.

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“It’s been horrible. I cry every day, I break down,” she said. “I replay it in my mind over and over again, almost like I was there and I couldn’t stop it.”

Police believed the attack was racially motivated. Last Friday, a grand jury agreed, indicting Kristoff King on a charge of first-degree murder with evidence of prejudice.

Court documents show the two knew each other, and nearby cameras recorded Jenks saying, “Kris, don’t do this. You are my friend.”

On Thursday, the state attorney in Pinellas County acknowledged the heinous nature of the crime, filing paperwork to seek the death penalty.

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“I’m the one that had to ask for the death penalty, so I just don’t think he deserves to live after what he did to my brother,” said Young.

As she copes with her grief, she told FOX 13 she tries to take comfort in memories.

“He was just a good guy all around because he would do anything for anybody,” she said, adding that she knows it will be a long road before the case goes to trial.

King remains in the Pinellas County jail and will have an arraignment in the next few weeks.