The Florida Supreme Court today upheld the death penalty for the man who killed a Fort Pierce Tribune newspaper carrier four years ago.

Steven Hayward was convicted of robbing and murdering Daniel DeStefano, 32, of Port St. Lucie at a convenience store while DeStefano dropped off newspapers along his business route.

DNA samples taken from Hayward’s blood-soaked jeans contributed to his conviction.

DeStefano had asked his employers to change his Avenue D delivery route because he didn’t feel safe, his fiancee testified during the trial. After they refused, DeStefano got a concealed weapon permit and was armed when Hayward robbed him on Feb. 1, 2005.

DeStefano fired back at Hayward and shot him in the hand after Hayward, who had been released from prison just three months earlier for another murder, shot him.

The massive amount of blood from Hayward’s injury at the crime scene helped seal the case against him.

Hayward denied having killed DeStefano and gave five different accounts of what happened and how he received the injury. Hayward, 40, still has numerous appeals available and remains on Death Row.

DeStefano’s mother, Diane, later filed a lawsuit against Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing Co., which owns the Tribune, alleging that the company knew her son’s delivery route was in a “high-crime area” but failed to take precautions to protect him.

Tags: Daniel DeStefano, death row, Fort Pierce Tribune, murder, newspaper, Scripps Howard, Steven Hayward

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Crime, Fort Pierce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.