First Death Sentence of 2026: He Breaks Down After Hearing His Sentence
And to two, that Angel Gabriel Kushaw should be sentenced to death. So say we all this ninth day of our This was the reaction of the most recently sentenced death row inmate in the United States. This is Angel Gabriel Cuz, who was officially transferred yesterday to death row in Florida after being convicted of the brutal murder of his wife and his young daughter.
The footage you are seeing shows the final moments of Amalia Coc Choc’s life, who was attacked in front of her home in broad daylight by the man who is now a death row inmate. Stay in this video because I’m going to tell you everything that happened in this case. Amalia Coc Choc de Pec was born in 1986 in Guatemala.
Hoping to improve her economic situation, she decided to migrate illegally to the United States, leaving several of her children behind and traveling only with her youngest daughter, Estrella Anastasia Pec Co Cook. Around 2021, they crossed the border and settled in New Jersey, where through social media, Amalia met Angel Gabriel Kushaw, also from Guatemala, and interestingly, from the same town.
Angel, five years younger than her, was the father of five children whom he left in his home country and had arrived illegally in the United States in September 2023. The relationship moved quickly. They shared the same background and experiences, which led them to move in together within a few weeks.
Amalia brought her daughter Estrella with her. Shortly after, Angel told her he had found work in Florida as a day laborer, and Amalia decided to move with him with the intention of starting over and building a family. According to the victim’s family, she did not feel a real attraction toward Angel, but stayed with him in search of a better life for her daughter.
This is how they ended up living in a small mobile home community in Florida. Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 began like a normal day, but hours later everything changed. Amalia’s body was found at the entrance of her home lying face down, partially covered with a tarp and semi-nude. She had severe injuries to her neck and face, as well as clear signs of violence both on her body and inside the home.
Inside the house, officers made a second discovery. In the bathroom, inside the bathtub, and with the water still running, was the body of little Estrella, just 4 years old, with injuries similar to those of her mother. >> >> One of the officers described the scene as extremely horrifying. After the discovery, investigators began to reconstruct what had happened by reviewing security camera footage from nearby homes.
In one of them, they found a key piece of evidence. The recordings showed the final movements of Amalia, her daughter, and Angel, allowing them to reconstruct the events step by step. The crime began around 12:30 p.m. when a friend came to pick up Amalia to ask for help with a move, and she agreed. Later, cameras captured Angel leaving his house and walking toward a nearby store.
By that point, he was already consumed by irrational jealousy, convinced that Amalia was with someone else. He made more than 60 calls to her, upset because she had left with her daughter saying she would return in a few hours, >> >> and for him, that time was already too long.
Then the cameras show him entering the store where he bought beers. At some point, Amalia answered his calls and they agreed to meet there. Minutes later, Amalia and Estrella arrived at the same place after helping the neighbor. They went inside. The little girl grabbed a lollipop since she knew the employees and then they left. Those were some of the last images of the mother and daughter alive.
Shortly after, the three of them met and boarded the same bus back home which dropped them off around 3:15 in the afternoon. They walked together to the house. Approximately 20 minutes later, a camera recorded screams coming from inside the home. It is known that Amalia tried to escape but Angel caught up with her and dragged her toward the back.
The screams were so intense that according to authorities, they could be heard from the distance of a football field. There, while Amalia begged for her life, Angel attacked her with a knife, killing her. He then went back inside the house and entered the bathroom where little Estrella was preparing to bathe and killed her.
Both mother and daughter had injuries on their hands, >> >> a sign that they tried to defend themselves. After the attack, Angel changed his clothes, packed a bag, and left the house. Although Amalia no longer showed signs of life, he attacked her again, this time with a shovel. Finally, a neighbor’s camera captured him fleeing the scene with a bag over his shoulder crossing nearby fields.
His name immediately began circulating among patrol units and within hours, authorities issued an alert to the community. A search operation was launched in rural areas characterized by strawberry fields, dense bushes, and large wooded zones. K9 units followed a trail although without conclusive results.
Because of this, investigators decided to contact two of Angel’s brothers who were also living in the United States hoping to obtain information about his whereabouts. One of his brothers said he spoke with him that same afternoon and during the call Angel said goodbye as if he knew they would never speak again.
The other brother said he contacted him less than two hours later and during that conversation Angel confessed what he had done. According to his testimony the attack was motivated by jealousy. Amalia had spent several hours out with a friend, >> >> he called her repeatedly and she did not answer.
The next morning an officer spotted him walking along a rural road more than a mile from the scene. As seen in the police body camera footage, when he noticed the officers Angel ran into the vegetation. However, a police dog tracked him down and officers managed to pull him out from the bushes.
He resisted and struggled but was eventually subdued and arrested. After the chase he was taken to the station and placed in a holding cell. Later, after being read his rights, he was interrogated in Spanish. During that interrogation he not only confessed to the crimes but also explained how he had committed them and pointed out the weapon used.
At a press conference prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty. During that appearance alongside Amalia’s family, authorities revealed that Angel had a criminal history in Guatemala including a sexual offense and the deaths of two women which allegedly led him to flee to the United States to evade justice.
At the start of the trial a notable situation occurred. Angel requested a K’iche’ language interpreter claiming that his Spanish was limited and that he did not speak English. Despite the fact that after his arrest he had communicated normally in Spanish, the court approved the interpreter to ensure he fully understood the process.
This service alone cost the state around $30,000. During the trial, the prosecution presented security camera footage and the statements Angel himself had given after his arrest. Several photographs were also shown to the jury, especially images of Amalia’s face. As part of the evidence, the weapon recovered from a trash can was displayed and confirmed as the one used in the attack.
Experts explained that the force used was so extreme that the blade ended up bent, demonstrating the level of violence. In an unexpected turn, Angel took the stand and claimed that he did not remember killing Amalia or Estrella. He did so with the help of the interpreter. After his testimony, the defense requested life imprisonment, arguing that it would be a sufficient punishment for someone who claimed to have no memory of what happened.
However, his statement did not convince the jury. Finally, on February 6th, 2026, a Hillsborough County judge formally imposed the death sentence following the jury’s recommendation. During the hearing, the judge had to pause several times while reading the sentence, visibly affected and unable to hold back her tears due to the extreme cruelty of the crimes.
The EPC was 4 years old at the time of her death. The decision also clearly impacted Angel. He broke down in tears and had to be removed from the courtroom. The defense attempted to present mitigating factors, but was unable to change the outcome. On April 13th, 2026, once the sentence became final, he was transferred to the state prison system to begin serving his sentence on death row.
Considering that the average time to execution in Florida is approximately 24 years, it is likely that it will take place around the year 2050 with an estimated cost of $24 million to the state over that time.
