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Carlie Brucia slaying: Convicted killer Joseph Smith dies in Florida prison

Smith was on death row after being found guilty of abducting, raping and killing the 11-year-old girl.
 
Joseph Smith talks with his public defenders, Adam Tebrugge, left, and Steven Schaefer, right, during his earing at the Sarasota County Judicial Center in Sarasota, Monday, Feb. 13, 2006. Smith, who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia as she walked to her Sarasota home in 2004 died in prison on Monday, the Florida Attorney General's Office said.
Joseph Smith talks with his public defenders, Adam Tebrugge, left, and Steven Schaefer, right, during his earing at the Sarasota County Judicial Center in Sarasota, Monday, Feb. 13, 2006. Smith, who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia as she walked to her Sarasota home in 2004 died in prison on Monday, the Florida Attorney General's Office said. [ CHIP LITHERLAND | AP ]
Published July 26, 2021|Updated July 26, 2021

SARASOTA — A man who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing an 11-year-old Florida girl as she walked home in 2004 died in prison on Monday, the state Attorney General’s Office said.

In this Feb. 10, 2004, file photo, Carlie Brucia's stepfather Steven Kansler, left, mother Susan Schorpen, second left, and Eileen Schorpen, her grandmother, right, stand behind a poster-size portrait of Brucia during the start of a memorial service at the Central Church of Christ in Sarasota.
In this Feb. 10, 2004, file photo, Carlie Brucia's stepfather Steven Kansler, left, mother Susan Schorpen, second left, and Eileen Schorpen, her grandmother, right, stand behind a poster-size portrait of Brucia during the start of a memorial service at the Central Church of Christ in Sarasota. [ STEVE NESIUS | AP ]

Joseph Smith was on Florida’s death row for killing Carlie Brucia in Sarasota. The cause of death was not known, officials said.

Smith was captured on video surveillance leading the child by the wrist as she walked past a car wash in Sarasota.

A surveillance camera at a car wash caught this image Feb. 1, 2004, of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia apparently being abducted by a man in a mechanic's uniform who walked up and grabbed her arm as she walked home from a friends house on Super Bowl Sunday last year. He body was found stashed among some brush on the grounds of a nearby church four days later. [Sarasota County Sheriff's Office via AP]
A surveillance camera at a car wash caught this image Feb. 1, 2004, of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia apparently being abducted by a man in a mechanic's uniform who walked up and grabbed her arm as she walked home from a friends house on Super Bowl Sunday last year. He body was found stashed among some brush on the grounds of a nearby church four days later. [Sarasota County Sheriff's Office via AP]

He was awaiting a resentencing hearing, which had been scheduled for next year, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that juries must be unanimous in death penalty cases, but the 2005 jury voted 10-2.

Related: Stepdad: 'Carlie has been heard'

“While nothing can bring back Carlie, we are grateful that her family, her friends, and the entire Sarasota community will finally have closure and will not have to endure any further court proceedings to bring Smith to justice,” State Attorney Ed Brodsky said in a statement.