Mark Wilson, a man from Florida, was convicted of brutally murdering two young boys earlier this month. The 32-year-old is set to receive the death penalty after jurors decided on the punishment during the sentencing trial.
On Friday, October 28, 2022, a Florida jury determined that Mark Wilson should be executed for the heinous crime of bludgeoning and slitting the throats of 14-year-old Tatyen and 12-year-old Robert Baker.
Wilson carried out the murders in August 2020, and was described as the most brutal crime scene the authorities assigned to the case had ever seen. Authorities said that Wilson and his girlfriend - the slain boys' aunt - were invited to live in the Baker family’s shed by the victim's mother Sarah Baker five days before the murder.
During the conviction trial, Sarah Baker testified that she was oblivious to Wilson’s insidious motives in the days leading up to the murder. However, she witnessed Wilson sharpening a knife that was used to slit their throats the night before the killings.
Mark Wilson killed the two boys while their mother slept in the house
Mark Wilson was convicted of first-degree murder earlier this month after the victims' mother Sarah Baker testified against him. According to the New York Post, Sarah Baker was asleep when Wilson stabbed and bludgeoned her children inside the house. In her testimony,
Baker outlined the details of the horrific crime scene when she discovered her sons' dead and said that she knew when she ripped off the blanket. She added that blood was everywhere and that Tayten was covered in blood. Baker continued:
“I ran over to Robert, and I’m screaming at him to call 911, and I ripped his blanket off and all I can remember is his head flipped forward and then it banged back up against the wall.”
Baker said that she ran to get help at the nearby house where the boys' grandfather lived. He then called the authorities.
Mark Wilson was arrested after his mother turned him over to the authorities following his confession to the murder of Robert and Tayten Baker. Wilson said that he killed the boys because their mother threatened his family with DCSF after Sarah Baker found them smoking marijuana in the presence of their infant child. The couple was also reportedly expecting another child.
However, authorities found Wilson's reasoning behind murdering the two boys highly unreliable. They said that he compounded his motives with additional information that didn't make any sense, telling law enforcement that he killed the boys to protect his family. He alleged that the boys were harming his infant daughter. Wilson also told authorities that he suspected the boys were sleeping with his girlfriend.
Authorities said that Wilson was reportedly high on meth when he committed the murders.
According to multiple reports, Wilson’s defense team was seeking life without parole. However, they can still appeal the jury’s verdict in a Spencer trial and overturn the death penalty.