BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been sentenced to life in prison for beating his father to death with a ball-peen hammer.
The Ledger reports that 27-year-old Vincent Moccia was sentenced Thursday after a Polk County jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors say Moccia went into 52-year-old Anthony Moccia’s bedroom while the older man was sleeping in November 2015 and struck the older man in the head multiples times. Vincent Moccia then grabbed his puppy and left. He crashed his truck into a utility pole not far from the Lakeland home.
Defense lawyers argued that Moccia experienced a psychotic break. Jurors deliberated less than an hour before returning their verdict.
