Girl in the Picture takeaway: Will Franklin Floyd face death sentence for the crimes he committed?

Franklin Floyd's story is one aspect of the true-crime documentary, Girl in the Picture, which was recently released on Netflix. Floyd, who was a key suspect in the hit-and-run case of his wife Tonya Hughes, was found guilty of killing Cheryl Commesso in 1989, abducting Michael Anthony Hughes in 1994 and was one of the most wanted fugitives by the federal government since 1973.

Sentenced to death row in 2002, Floyd, who is 79 years old now, is currently awaiting his execution date at a prison in Florida. However, it can be assumed that he will die of natural causes before a date for the execution is set.

This true-crime documentary by Skye Borgman examines Sharon Marshall's (originally Suzanne Marie Sevakis) murder case and the investigation that followed.

It was eventually discovered that 20-year-old Marshall, whose death had initially seemed like an ordinary hit-and-run accident in 1990, was really Suzanne Marie Sevakis, a young woman who had been abducted by Franklin Delano Floyd sometime in 1970, when she was just five years old.

Girl in the Picture also explores the horrendous acts committed by Floyd, who was charged with homicide and abduction. It took three decades to piece together the narrative due to the various identities of the accused as well as that of the victim.

---

How was Franklin Floyd convicted and sentenced to prison for his heinous crimes?

Although Franklin Floyd was the prime suspect in the murder case of Sharon Marshall aka Tonya Hughes when he was first arrested, he was later also charged with the abduction case of Sharon's son Michael Hughes and brought to trial in court. It was a difficult case for the prosecutors, considering that there was no sufficient evidence which could be used against Floyd at the time.

After a DNA test had ruled out Floyd as Michael's biological parent, and the latter was placed in foster care, Floyd entered his school in 1994, held the principal at gunpoint and took him away. The principal was duct-taped and shackled to a tree in the woods.

Floyd stole the principal's vehicle and fled the scene with Michael. Authorities located Floyd in Kentucky a while after the kidnapping incident. However, Michael was not with him.

Floyd refused to divulge information about the kidnapping, but was found guilty, and received a 52-year-long jail term for the case. Ultimately, in 2015, he confessed to FBI officials that he had killed Michael the same day he abducted him.

According to FBI reports, Special Agent Scott Lobb revealed bits about his conversation with Franklin Floyd. He said:

"He turned and looked at me and said, ‘I shot him twice in the back of the head to make it real quick.’ I think he just ran out of excuses."

Floyd was also linked to the murder of Cheryl Commesso and charged with first-degree murder, when, in 1994, while looking into Michael's disappearance, police obtained images of a young woman who had been physically abused.

The woman was identified as Cheryl, and her bones were recovered alongside a Florida highway a year later. It was later revealed that Franklin Floyd murdered Commesso in 1989 when he was employed at the strip club where his wife Sharon Marshall worked as an exotic dancer.

Franklin Floyd, who has been imprisoned since 2002 remains incarcerated on death row at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida.

Although Floyd remains alive till date awaiting his execution day, which is yet to be decided, it is likely that the 79-year-old will succumb to more natural causes of death before his execution.

---

More about the case and evidence discovered

Sharon Marshall captured during her teenage years in high school (Image via Netflix/YouTube)

Franklin Floyd was also a prime suspect in the initial hit-and-run case of his wife Sharon Marshall (Tonya Hughes at the time of her death). Upon investigating Marshall and Floyd's numerous aliases over the years, authorities learned that Marshall too had been kidnapped. Floyd had abducted her during the 1970s from his then-wife and Sharon's birth mother, Sandra Chipman.

They also discovered her real name, Suzanne Marrie Sevakis.

As per court reports, upon further investigating Floyd's vehicle, agents uncovered evidence of child pornography, which included images of Marshall.

---

Learn more about the heinous crimes of Franklin Floyd and the heart-wrenching story of Sharon Marshall in the latest documentary, Girl in the Picture, on Netflix.