JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) A Jefferson City man accused of stabbing the mother of his child to death had a motion hearing on Thursday that determined he could still face the possibility of being sentenced to death. Sergio L.
Sayles, 36, was charged in April 2023 with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, evidence tampering and a pair of misdemeanors -- second-degree stalking and second-degree harassment -- in the death of Jasmine King. Later that month Cole County’s top prosecutor filed an intent to seek the death penalty . Sayles' defense team responded by filing a motion to declare the Missouri death penalty unconstitutional.
On Thursday, they argued before a judge that the death penalty has racial and gender biases. They cited multiple studies, including one that said Black people who kill white people are four times more likely to be tried for capital murder than white people who kill Black people. The prosecution countered on Thursday by saying the state is held by the burden of law, not the burden of statistics.
Judge Brouck Jacobs denied the motion from the defense, saying that the law is already “well settled” and that he won’t declare it unconstitutional. The defense also motioned to strike the first aggregator listed in the notice of intent, which said that Sayles had a prior record of convictions for serious assaults after he was found guilty of aggravated battery in Champaign County, Illinois in 1999. The defense argued that they couldn’t use his c.