Jury: Woman Who Killed Couple Should Die

Two Co-Defendants Already Face Death Penalty

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jurors who convicted a woman of kidnapping, robbery and murder returned to a Duval County courtroom and recommended she be put to death.

Tiffany Cole is the fourth person convicted of taking Carol and Reggie Sumner from their St. Nicholas home in 2005, robbing them and then burying them alive in a shallow grave in southeast Georgia.

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Of the three others convicted, the man prosecutors considered the ringleader -- Michael Jackson -- is already on death row. A jury has recommended that co-conspirator Allen Wade also be sentenced to death.

Bruce Nixon, who testified for the state against the others, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing.

The court was filled with emotional testimony during Thursday's sentencing hearing, bringing convicted killer Cole to tears at times.

During Cole's hearing, several relatives of the victims took the stand and told the jury how Cole should pay for the crime she committed.

"I miss you and love you dearly. You will always be a part of my heart," Reggie Sumner's sister, Jean Clark, said in court. "I grasp to the memories of your nurturing love and to the pictures of you. This I'll hold dear until the time we meet again. Carol and Reggie are gone but not forgotten."

She told the jury Cole deserves the harshest punishment for her crime.

However, Cole's family said the woman was led by Jackson, and it begged for mercy.

"She always had everybody's well-being. She always tried to make sure that she looked out for you and you did the right thing, even if she was getting in trouble herself. She would try to make sure that she gave advice to you to make sure that you didn?t make the same mistake she did," said Cole's cousin, Amber Jones.