On Monday, a Florida judge sentenced a man to death for the murder of a 15-year-old boy who was protecting his sister when the man broke into their home.
By a 10-2 vote, the judge upheld a jury’s recommendation that 33-year-old Ryan Cole be executed for the 2019 murder of Khyler Edman at his Port Charlotte home. Earlier this year, a jury convicted Cole of first-degree murder and burglary.
In a memorandum in support of Cole’s death sentence, prosecutors described how the defendant was broke and high on heroin and methamphetamine on September 26, 2019, when he decided to break into Khyler’s home because he suspected there might be drugs or money inside.
At around 4 p.m., Cole broke into the home’s carport with a tool and entered the kitchen, where he met Khyler, who was home alone with his 5-year-old sister while their mother was working.
Khyler grabbed a chef’s knife in an effort to protect himself and his sister. A video clip from home security footage primarily captured audio of what occurred next.
“During the six (6) second video clip, a voice can be heard stating ‘Come here friend’ and splatters of blood are seen dropping to the floor,” according to prosecutors.
Cole stabbed Khyler four times in his chest and abdomen. The boy died on the floor. His sister was hiding beneath a bed and was not physically hurt.
Cops later discovered Cole nearby, his hand bloodied from allegedly grabbing the knife and overpowering Khyler. He claimed not to remember the attack.
Prosecutors argued that Cole deserved the death penalty due to a number of aggravating factors. First, the murder happened during a burglary. Second, Cole’s actions were “heinous, meaning extremely wicked or shockingly evil.”
“The Defendant’s voice on the video clip inside the kitchen stating, ‘Come here friend,’ is especially wicked and shockingly evil, as the Defendant was taunting a young boy,” the prosecution alleged.
“The video shows that the Defendant chased [Khyler] inside his own home. Rather than leaving the house when he realized it was occupied, the defendant grabbed the knife and repeatedly stabbed 15-year-old [Khyler].
Cole’s lawyer, who argued during the trial that her client should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, said in a sentencing memo that life in prison was an adequate punishment.
“A life sentence in prison is a slow, humane form of justice—one that ensures accountability while replacing execution with a lifetime of reflection and consequence,” wrote public defender Kathleen M. Fitzgeorge. “Life without parole does not equate to freedom.
It is not comfortable. This is not peace. It is a slow death, carried out over decades in a concrete cell, devoid of autonomy, meaning, and hope.”
In the end, Judge Lisa Porter agreed with the prosecutors and the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Cole to death.
In the Sunshine State, a jury can recommend the death penalty with as few as eight votes after the state legislature changed the law in response to a jury’s 2022 recommendation for life in prison for the shooter who killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Following Cole’s sentence, prosecutors and law enforcement held a press conference to praise the decision.
“He had this coming,” said Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell. “There is a special place in hell for individuals like this and he is getting what he deserves.”
Christina Halston, Khyler’s aunt, spoke with the local CBS affiliate WINK.
“Our family is broken. “Grief is constant, heavy, and unrelenting,” she explained. “We celebrate birthdays without him. We have holidays without his smile, an empty seat that reminds us every day of what has been taken away from us, and his siblings, cousins, and friends are left trying to comprehend something that should never have happened as adults; we can not even imagine it ourselves.”
“Khyler mattered,” she added. “He still matters.”
