Sebring bank shooting: Gunman’s mother tells jurors her son was a ‘sweetheart’ as sentencing trial continues

Defense presents case in bank shooter sentencing trial

FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports.

SEBRING, Fla. - After listening to the defense’s opening statement on Monday morning, jurors in the Sebring bank shooter’s sentencing trial heard from the gunman’s mother.

Zephen Xaver walked into a SunTrust Bank in Sebring on Jan. 23, 2019, and shot four employees and one customer inside. Now, a jury will decide if he will be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During the defense’s opening statement, Xaver’s lawyer told jurors that he had been hit in the head while playing football, was punched in the head by his brother, and also had a tumor in the part of his brain that processes language. She argued that Xaver had been hearing voices since he was 14 years old, was put on medication and placed in behavioral health centers for periods of time.

She added that the evidence Xaver's lawyers present this week is not an excuse or a justification for him shooting and killing five women at the SunTrust Bank, because there is no excuse.

However, the defense is arguing that Xaver’s life should be spared and jurors should sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Zephen Xaver's mother testifies at his sentencing trial.

Xaver’s mother, Misti Hendricks, told jurors she suffered from post-partum depression after she gave birth to Zachary in 1999. She said her doctor gave her medications that had her seeing and hearing things. She said she never saw or heard things before taking the medication.

She explained that she feared she may harm herself and asked a babysitter to watch Xaver and his little brother Zachary.

After she explained how she asked the boy's father to take the children during that time, Hendricks began crying and asked if she could take a minute.

The judge obliged, and the court went into recess shortly before 10 a.m.

After the recess, Hendricks described her son Zephen as a "sweetheart" and a "mama's boy," when he was little.

After his mother took the stand, jurors heard from Xaver’s former babysitter, family friends and teachers. Most recalled Xaver as being quiet and well-mannered.

On Friday, friends and family of Marisol Lopez, Jessica Montague, Debra Cook, Ana Pinon Wiliams and Cynthia Watson told the jury how their lives were destroyed by the murders. Several jurors wiped tears from their eyes as Xaver sat stone-faced with his head propped in his hand.

Zephen Xaver sat stone-faced as friends and family members of the five women he killed at a Sebring bank in 2019 told the jury how he destroyed their lives.

On Thursday, jurors heard from Zephen Xaver’s ex-girlfriend, high school student Imani Davis. She told the jury that after months of not communicating, Xaver reached out to her on Jan. 23, 2019, and seemed uncharacteristically happy and excited.

Read: Sebring bank shooting: Jurors hear 911 call as gunman's sentencing trial gets underway

She said Xaver sent her a message at 12:14 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2019, which read, "The fun part, the [expletive] cliché clincher, is that I’m not going out alone. I’m taking a few people out with me because I’ve always wanted to kill people, so I’m going to try it and see how it goes. Watch out for me on the news – Sebring, Florida."

She said she wrote back, "There’s something wrong with you. Seriously."

Xaver's ex-girlfriend Imani Davis testifies at his sentencing trial.

Then she told her teacher about the messages and school officials contacted law enforcement.

Another friend of Xaver’s took the stand Thursday and testified that she contacted her local law enforcement in Michigan after Xaver sent her a message stating that he wanted to hold up a bank. He wanted the police to shoot him, so they would look like heroes.

READ: Sebring bank shooting trial: Gunman tells police ‘I deserve to die for this’ in video played for jurors

Police said they contacted Xaver’s mother at the time and said they saw no reason to follow up.

Testimony in the sentencing trial began on Monday. Since then, jurors heard from a bank teller who escaped the massacre, law enforcement officers and witnesses who arrived at the bank that afternoon to find the doors locked and people lying on the floor.

Bank teller testifies in Sebring shooting hearing

As Zephen Xaver waits to find out whether he’ll be sentenced to death for killing five people at a bank in Sebring in 2019, a teller at the bank who managed to escape testified Tuesday.

Jurors also watched an interview between Xaver and police shortly after his arrest in which he said, "I deserve to die for this."

Sebring bank shooting: Xaver's recorded interview with police

Listen to a portion of an interview between a lieutenant with the Sebring Police Department and Zephen Xaver about what happened before, during and after the Sebring bank deadly shooting. [WARNING: This contains offensive language].

Earlier in the week, jurors listened to the 911 call Xaver made from inside the bank moments after he shot five women inside.

Sebring shooting trial: 911 call played for jury

Listen to the 911 call Zephen Xaver made after he killed five women inside a Suntrust Bank in Sebring in January 2019.

Twice, Xaver's defense team called for a mistrial. The first time was over an audience member who had an audible reaction to testimony and the presence of a therapy dog in the courtroom, and the second time was when an employee at the gun store where Xaver purchased his firearm gave him a dirty look when he entered the courtroom to testify.

Both times, the judge denied the mistrial.

Who is Zephen Xaver?

The man police say shot and killed five people in a Sebring, Florida, SunTrust bank was described by a woman who knew him as "normal" and "well-mannered."

Sharon Spillane, a friend of Xaver’s parents, told FOX 13 in 2019 that she never in a million years saw this coming.

"We’ve cooked together, I’ve been in their house, we’ve watched movies. They’re a very normal family," Spillane said. "He had a job, and he was very quiet and very well-mannered. Anytime that I saw him, he was very well-mannered, always good posture and well-spoken."

However, Xaver’s ex-girlfriend paints a different picture. In a previous interview with FOX 13, Alex Gerlach said Xaver was obsessed with guns and knives.

"The only thing I can remember is him talking about guns and wanting guns," Gerlach said in a 2019 interview. "He wants to hurt people physically."

According to Gerlach, she met Xaver in a psychiatric hospital in 2013. She said they dated off and on for about two years.

Pictured: Zephen Xaver

"At one point, my mother was terrified because she thought he was going to physically harm me," explained Gerlach, who described Xaver as a troubled teen. "For some reason, he always hated people and wanted everybody to die."

Gerlach said Xaver continued to make chilling comments over the years and said one week before the shooting he sent her a picture of him holding a gun.

"I've been scared for years and every single person I've told has not taken it seriously, and it's very unfortunate it had to come to this," she said in 2019.

Documents provided by the Bremen Police Department in Indiana state officers went to Xaver's high school in 2014, after school officials said he was having disturbing thoughts.

The documents state Xaver told school officials he had dreams of hurting his classmates. According to the police report, Xaver's mother agreed to take her son to a behavioral health center.

In recorded conversations played for the jury, Xaver states that medication did not help him and neither did his time at a behavioral treatment center. He claimed that voices in his head told him to kill people. However, a psychologist who took the stand on Thursday said he did not believe Xaver was really hearing voices because he appeared to be very calm and methodical in video that shows him carrying out the murders.

The Florida Department of Corrections confirmed Xaver was a correctional officer trainee with Avon Park Correctional Institution for about two months. He resigned two weeks before the shooting.

Who were the victims?

Marisol Lopez, Jessica Montague, Debra Cook, Ana Pinon Wiliams and Cynthia Watson were killed on Jan. 23, 2019, when Xaver, who was 21 at the time, walked into the SunTrust Bank on Highway 27, wearing a bullet-proof vest and armed with a gun he recently purchased, forced the women to lie on the floor and shot them to death.

Ana Piñon Williams came to America from Mexico when she was 12 years old and picked fruits and vegetables to support her family.

She is remembered as a loving daughter, mother, sister, and friend who was the glue that kept their family together.

"She lives in and through us," Anna’s sister Blanca told the jury. "We continue her legacy with humbleness, compassion, empathy, and a strong faith in God. She was a ray of sunshine and a breath of fresh air."

Pictured: Ana Piñon Williams

Debra Cook was a cancer survivor who had been married to her husband, Michael Cook, one month shy of 35 years.

He said they didn't have to work, but she wanted to work, so she could help out her children and travel.

"No one expects to say goodbye to a loved one in the morning and never see them, hold them, or talk to them again," Michael Cook stated. "Everyone expects to say goodbye to the ones they love."

Debra Cook

Friends and family describe Marisol Lopez as an exceptional human being who was a daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend.

Her daughter said her world stopped on January 23, 2019, when Lopez was killed.

"I lost the one person I trusted entirely, and now I am very alone, and I feel so isolated. I may have been 21 when she died, but I was still a girl who needed her mom."

Pictured: Marisol Lopez

Family members described Cynthia Watson as having the heart of an angel and described her as empathetic, compassionate, adventurous, and strong. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, sister and daughter.

Her daughter says she has been sentenced to a lifetime of grief since the passing of her mother

Pictured: Cynthia Watson

Jessica Montague is described as a loving, caring, and kind person.

Her mother, Tina Warner, said, "I never knew what a true heartbreak was until Jessie was taken from us. She always lit up a room with her outstanding personality."

Warner added, "I miss my Jessie every day. The hole in my heart will never heal. My love for my daughter will never be replaced by anyone or anything."