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Solicitor: Remorseless killer sentenced again
Raymondeze Rivera sentenced to life in prison
Updated: 7:23 AM EDT Jun 7, 2013
Raymondeze Rivera (file photo): Convicted in the deaths of two Upstate women
A man who killed a woman who was later found with her 2-year-old child lying on top of her dead body was sentenced Thursday, avoiding a death penalty for the second time.Raymondeze Rivera killed Kwana Burns in 2006. Burns, 28, was found dead in her bedroom by her 9-year-old son and his cousin. She had been tied up, strangled to death and her unharmed child was lying on her.Thursday he was sentenced to life in prison.Rivera is also convicted in the death Asha Wiley. She was also strangled and found dead in her bedroom, two days before Rivera killed Burns. Rivera was convicted in Burns' death in 2008 and sentenced to death, but the Supreme Court the conviction earlier this year. The State Supreme Court ruled that a trial judge should have let Raymondeze Rivera take the stand during his trial, even if defense attorneys thought the testimony might harm their case. Solicitor Chrissy Adams said Thursday, "Raymondeze Rivera is a violent and dangerous man who has shown no remorse for his crimes. It is disappointing that a S.C. Supreme Court overturned Rivera's previous death penalty conviction. I am confident that if we took this case to trial again, we would secure another death penalty verdict."Many factors, however, go into the decision of whether or not to proceed with a new trial and our primary concern is what is best for the victim's family. After lengthy discussions with the family, we have mutually agreed that the emotional burden of a new trial would be too great and the best course is a guilty plea that ensures Rivera will never again be a free man."It is my hope that today's plea will help the family to continue to heal from the loss of Kwana Burns and keep them from having to ever again see the inside of a courtroom."
ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. —
A man who killed a woman who was later found with her 2-year-old child lying on top of her dead body was sentenced Thursday, avoiding a death penalty for the second time.
Raymondeze Rivera killed Kwana Burns in 2006. Burns, 28, was found dead in her bedroom by her 9-year-old son and his cousin. She had been tied up, strangled to death and her unharmed child was lying on her.
Thursday he was sentenced to life in prison.
Rivera is also convicted in the death Asha Wiley. She was also strangled and found dead in her bedroom, two days before Rivera killed Burns.
Rivera was convicted in Burns' death in 2008 and sentenced to death, but the Supreme Court the conviction earlier this year. The State Supreme Court ruled that a trial judge should have let Raymondeze Rivera take the stand during his trial, even if defense attorneys thought the testimony might harm their case.
Solicitor Chrissy Adams said Thursday, "Raymondeze Rivera is a violent and dangerous man who has shown no remorse for his crimes. It is disappointing that a S.C. Supreme Court overturned Rivera's previous death penalty conviction. I am confident that if we took this case to trial again, we would secure another death penalty verdict.
"Many factors, however, go into the decision of whether or not to proceed with a new trial and our primary concern is what is best for the victim's family. After lengthy discussions with the family, we have mutually agreed that the emotional burden of a new trial would be too great and the best course is a guilty plea that ensures Rivera will never again be a free man.
"It is my hope that today's plea will help the family to continue to heal from the loss of Kwana Burns and keep them from having to ever again see the inside of a courtroom."