Attorneys for a father accused of killing his young daughter are trying to save him from a possible death penalty sentence.
Jeremy Main, 43, could be put to death if he is convicted of murdering his 18-month-old daughter. He has been held without bond since Oct. 9, 2017 at the Lake County Jail on a charge of first degree murder.
However, his defense team is making the case to allow testimony on the “negative impact” Main’s absence “will have upon the lives of his family.”
On the day of the baby’s death, Main turned himself in at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Annex in The Villages. Hours earlier, Main had called his wife, who was at work in Ocala. He reportedly told her he had killed their daughter. She made a frantic 911 call and soon Lake County sheriff’s deputies rushed to the family home on Redbug Road in rural Lady Lake. They found the girl had died of drowning in a bathtub.
The little girl, Makenzie Moira Main, left behind two sisters as well her mother, who has since divorced Main.
Main’s lawyers want to be able to make the case that his absence could have a negative impact on his remaining family members. In their motion, the defense team cites a case from earlier this year in neighboring Sumter County Court, where Judge William Hallman III ruled that “the defense may ask family members of the defendant what impact it would have on them if the defendant was no longer available to speak to them or communicate with them but prohibited witnesses testifying about the specific act of execution.” In that case, 39-year-old Larry Darnell Peavy, of Bushnell, is charged with killing a 16-year-old girl from Leesburg. His case is pending and he remains jailed without bond.
A trial in Main’s case is tentatively set for the week of Jan. 31 in Lake County Court.
