None — ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- When Jarred Harrell pleaded guilty to all charges on Friday he was able to save himself from death row. But at what cost to local taxpayers?
"Basically, me, the parents, everybody else is going to take care of him the rest of his life. There's no justice in that," one Orange Park man said.
Harrell received six life sentences related to Somer Thompson's kidnapping and murder. Two of those life sentences will be served consecutively. That means he will die in jail.
Locals we talked to wanted to know exactly what that will cost us.
"The state shouldn't take care of him for the rest of his life," another man said.
We took those questions to the department of corrections and we got some answers for you. If Harrell makes it to the average American life span of 75 years it will cost taxpayers $1.5 million in his lifetime, that's nearly $19,500 a year.
Had Harrell gone to trial and received the death penalty taxpayers would still be stuck with the bill, but the average jail time for a death row inmate is much less. Only 12.9 years.
"It's over it's done. He waived all appeals, this is it," Sheriff Rick Beseler said.
With no appeals in the works, we know Somer's killer will be off the streets for good. And for some, that makes this pricey plea deal worth it.
"Our concern was to get justice for Somer, and we feel like we got fairly swift and fairly sured justice," State Attorney Angela Corey said.
According to the Department of Corrections, there are nearly 101,000 inmates in Florida and nearly 400 on Death Row.
WJAX
