Mesac Damas, the Collier County man sentenced to death for the murder of his wife and five children, has had his motion for post-conviction relief, in its entirety, denied. The
Honorable Judge Ramiro Manalich denied the defendant’s motion in a 28-page written order.
Damas was seeking to vacate the judgements of conviction and sentence against him, for the 2009 murder of his family. Damas killed his wife Guerline Dieu, 32, and their five young children, Meshach, 9, Maven, 6, Marven, 5, Megan, 3, and Morgan, 19 months old. He used a filet knife to kill each of them, slitting their throats, after breaking into the family’s Naples home.
State Attorney Amira Fox, Chief Assistant State Attorney Richard Montecalvo and former Assistant State Attorney Dave Scuderi, prosecuted the first degree murder case resulting in the 2017 conviction of Damas and sentence of six death penalties.
The motion made claims of ineffective counsel. Representing the state in opposition to the motion, were Chief Assistant State Attorney Richard Montecalvo and Assistant Attorney General Timothy Freeland of the Attorney General’s Office. A three-day evidentiary hearing was held in November 2022.
“This remains one of the most heinous and atrocious crimes in our area’s history. What was done at the hands of Mesac Damas, was pure evil. The six death penalties he received at sentencing, one for each victim, was the right sentence for these wicked and indescribable acts. This denial of postconviction relief keeps Damas on death row, awaiting his sentence of death,” said State Attorney Fox.
Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office