Florida Supreme Court to hear Volusia County death penalty case Christian Cruz sentenced to death after killing man he mistook for drug dealer Published: Tags: Florida Supreme Court halts right to speedy trial due to backlog created by pandemic TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to take up a Volusia County death penalty case concerning a man convicted of killing a man he thought was a drug dealer. A jury recommended in 2019 that Christian Cruz receive the death penalty after finding him guilty of kidnapping, beating and shooting Christopher Jeremy, who was 25 years old. [TRENDING: Ad Authorities said Cruz and another man, Justin Charles, broke into Jemery’s apartment in Deltona and beat him, tied him up, threw him into the trunk of his car and drove him to a wooded area in Sanford, where they shot him in the back of the head.