KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reassigned a murder case Friday to a different state attorney’s office following complaints from the county sheriff that the original prosecutor was hindering the investigation.
DeSantis signed an executive order giving the case of Nicole Montalvo’s slaying to State Attorney Brad King, who represents Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter counties. The case had initially been assigned to Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala.
“At the end of the day, this is not about a particular sheriff, or state attorney, or governor,” DeSantis said during a news conference. “This is about Nicole and her memory. She cannot speak for herself and so we as Floridians need to ensure that justice is done on her behalf.”
In his executive order, DeSantis referenced an ongoing feud between Ayala and Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson over whether to file murder charges against Montalvo’s estranged husband Christopher Otero-Rivera and father-in-law Angel Rivera. Both men are being held in the county jail but neither has been charged with murder.
Montalvo, 33, was found dead in October on property owned by Rivera, investigators said. The St. Cloud woman had gone missing several days earlier.
Ayala said during a news conference later Friday that she had hoped to bring murder charges but need more evidence. She said she wouldn’t challenge the governor’s decision.
Gibson also told the governor that he believed Ayala’s opposition to the death penalty was interfering with the appropriate pursuit of homicide charges, according to the order.
Former Gov. Rick Scott reassigned more than a dozen capital murder cases from Ayala to King in 2017 after Ayala publicly announced that she would no longer seek the death penalty. She fought the decision, but the Florida Supreme Court sided with Scott.
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