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FLOIDA - A decades-old South Florida murder case is returning to court as a man previously convicted in the death of a young girl faces a new sentencing hearing that could once again result in the death penalty.
Harrel Braddy, now in his mid-70s, was found guilty in connection with the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock, whose body was discovered in the Everglades after she was left near a canal.
According to court records and the original arrest report, Braddy allegedly had a relationship with the child’s mother before the crime.
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Prosecutors said that after a dispute, he allegedly kidnapped both the mother and the girl.
The mother survived after being left injured in a remote area and later reported what happened to authorities.
Investigators said Braddy allegedly drove the child to a canal along Interstate 75 and left her there alive.
Medical testimony during the trial indicated the girl was attacked by alligators and suffered fatal injuries.
Her body was recovered days later, showing extensive trauma consistent with an animal attack.
Braddy was convicted of first-degree murder and several related charges and was originally sentenced to death in the mid-2000s.
That sentence was later thrown out after changes in Florida law required different jury standards in capital cases.
In 2023, Florida revised its death penalty statute, lowering the number of jurors needed to recommend execution.
Prosecutors are now seeking to apply that law in a new sentencing phase.
Braddy remains in prison on multiple other sentences tied to the case as the court considers whether the death penalty will be reinstated.