Ex-con gets death for killing activist who helped him

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS -- An ex-convict has been sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a community and political activist who had tried to help him get back on his feet after he was paroled.

A defiant Jesse Guardado refused to stand Thursday as Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells sentenced him for the stabbing and beating death of 75-year-old Jackie T. Malone at her home in this Florida Panhandle city.

"When do I get a chance to say something?" Guardado yelled, but the judge refused to let him speak.

Wells also sentenced Guardado to 30 years in prison for armed robbery. A prosecutor said he killed the woman in September 2004 for her money so he could buy crack cocaine.

Guardado, 43, confessed and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last year. A jury last month unanimously recommended the death penalty.

Wells recounted how the victim had fought for her life while Guardado beat her with a metal rod and, when she wouldn't die, stabbed her with a kitchen knife and slashed her throat. A stab wound to the heart was the fatal blow.

Malone, a real estate broker-contractor, befriended Guardado when he was paroled in January 2003 after serving time for four armed robberies in Orange County. She rented a house to him and lent him money.

She did volunteer work with several organizations, was a guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children, and a member of the Walton County Democratic Executive Committee.

Guardado also was sentenced in February to 40 years in prison for attempting to rob a DeFuniak Springs grocery employee just hours before the murder.