CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — The man convicted of killing a 15-year-old Port Charlotte teenager will have to wait until next month to learn if he will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.
The sentencing for Ryan Cole was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, but both the state and the defense need to file more paperwork — what's called a sentencing memorandum. It means both sides will make a final argument on paper as to why the judge should sentence him to death or spare his life.
Throughout much of the trial and sentencing hearing, Cole sat with no emotion on his face. Tuesday was more of the same.
On May 15, a jury recommended the death penalty after they previously found Cole guilty of the deadly 2019 stabbing of Khyler Edman. Deputies say Edman was protecting his 5-year-old sister when he was killed.
It's a brutal killing Edman's family is still grappling with more than five years later.
"He was murdered in his own home, a place that should've been safe," Khyler's aunt said. "Our family is broken, grief is constant, heavy and unrelenting."
She went on to talk about Khyler being kind, intelligent and caring. He enjoyed fishing and Nerf gun fights with family members.
"He had dreams, he wanted to serve in the military when he got older," his aunt said.
The teenager was a Gators fan like his dad and would go to a nursing home on Christmas with his grandmother to give them homemade gifts.
"Khyler mattered. He still matters and we will continue to speak his name and honor his memory forever," she said.
Shackled at his hands and feet, Cole sat next to his attorneys to read a letter. Much of it was directed toward Khyler's family.
"Not a day goes by that I don't wish I can go back and change what I did," Cole said. "I'm truly sorry for the pain that I have caused your family. I am truly sorry."
Cole went on to ask for forgiveness as one of Edman's family members sat in the audience and listened.
"I am responsible, I own that," he said.
During the sentencing hearing, a psychiatrist for the defense said Cole had a mental illness at the time of the arrest.
Dr. Gregory Iannuzzi diagnosed Cole with "other specified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders."
According to Cole, he said to the doctor during his evaluation that law enforcement was trying to persecute him or target him while in jail.
The doctor also said Cole suffers from delusions and talked about his drug use.
However, prosecutors say the doctor cannot cite drug use in his diagnosis, based on the testing criteria used.
Cole will be back in court on July 2 when the judge will decide if he will go to prison for life or be put to death.
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