Joseph Smith, the man convicted of murdering 11-year-old Carlie Brucia back in 2004, died in Florida prison on Monday, the State Attorney’s Office confirmed. Smith, who was awaiting a resentencing hearing that was scheduled for 2022, was being held at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford. His case of death was not known. 

“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.

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The case – 

Carlie was walking home from a friend’s house on February 1, 2004, Smith abducted her. Smith was caught on
surveillance camera grabbing Carlie by the arm and leading her away from a car wash on. Four days later, her body was found behind a church almost three miles away from where she was abducted.

A medical examiner confirmed that she was sexually assaulted before being strangulated to death. Smith was convicted of Carlie’s murder and sentenced to death. 

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Last year, a circuit judge resentenced Smith to death. The Supreme Court subsequently issued rulings in two other cases. Earlier this year, the attorney general’s office acknowledged that Smith should receive a new sentencing hearing.

“I feel so let down by the system because Joseph Smith was on parole before he got to my daughter and he was supposed to go back to jail for five years if he violated. He did violate. He was quote passed out with a bag of cocaine in a parking lot. Instead of them giving the consequence that they said they would, they gave him drug offender probation. Which is just semantics and that’s why my daughter is not here today,” Joseph Brucia said.