‘Beyond comprehension': Florida Keys prosecutors seek death in child molestation case

Yahoo

12-03-2025

The Monroe County State Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty against a Florida Keys man accused of raping his 3-year-old daughter and recording the horrific acts dozens of times on his cell phone.
A law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 made sexual battery of a child under the age of 12 a capital offense, and Monroe State Attorney Dennis Ward said the details of this case meet all the criteria for the death penalty.
'The nature of this crime is beyond comprehension,' Ward said. 'Crimes against children, especially those this egregious, demand the full force of the law, and we will not hesitate to seek justice.'
Micheal John Demerjian, 36, was already in county jail on Jan. 17 when someone who bought his car found his phone in the vehicle that contained more than 70 images and videos of the child.
READ MORE: Buying used car leads to disturbing discovery, Keys cops say
The images and videos were so disturbing that grand jurors, who indicted Demerjian in February, were reduced to tears hearing about them, as was the Monroe County sheriff's detectives who had to describe to them the imagery he and his colleagues discovered, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield.
'The evidence in this case leaves no doubt about the necessity of seeking the death penalty,' Mansfield said. 'We will aggressively prosecute this case to ensure justice is served.'
Major Crimes division prosecutor Colleen Dunne will try the case on behalf of the state, according to the State Attorney's Office.
Once the person alerted the sheriff's office about the phone he found in Demerjian's car, detectives worked with prosecutors to investigate the case.
Demerjian, who lives on Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys, had been in county jail since November on charges that he stole $4,800 from a woman looking to rent a home in the island chain.
According to his arrest warrant for that case, Demerjian advertised a house for rent on Facebook Marketplace with an address that did not exist.
After the woman sent him the money as a down payment, he ceased all contact with her, according to the warrant.
County jail records show Demerjian has an arrest history in the Keys going back to 2018 on charges that include felony child neglect, hit-and-run, grand-theft auto and drug possession.
He pleaded no contest to the hit-and-run-charge in March 2024 and was sentenced to time served. The other cases are still pending. He is being held without bond on the child-pornography and sexual-battery charges.
Demerjian is being represented by an attorney with the Monroe County Public Defender's Office. Public Defender Robert Lockwood declined to comment when reached by the Herald.