Bio 

Guerry Wayne Hertz was born on March 8, 1977. He was 20 years old when the murders of Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears occurred in Wakulla County, Florida. Before trial, Hertz’s competency became an issue. A competency hearing was held on April 7, 1999. The trial court reviewed expert reports, observed Hertz, and found that he had the ability to consult with his lawyer and understood the proceedings against him. The Florida Supreme Court later upheld that finding, noting that although experts disagreed, the trial court acted within its discretion in finding Hertz competent to stand trial.

Court records also show that Hertz had legal trouble before final sentencing. The trial court found that he had been convicted of a felony and was on felony probation at the time of the murders. It also considered a later aggravated battery conviction from Volusia County as an aggravating factor during sentencing. These aggravating findings were part of the State’s argument that Hertz should receive the death penalty.

Hertz’s co-defendants were Jason Brice Looney and Jimmy Dewayne Dempsey. Dempsey entered a plea agreement before trial and received consecutive life sentences in exchange for testifying against Hertz and Looney. Hertz and Looney were tried together and were both convicted of the murders, robbery, burglary, arson, and firearm-related charges.

Murder Story

In the late evening of July 26, 1997, Guerry Wayne Hertz, Jason Brice Looney, and Jimmy Dewayne Dempsey left an acquaintance’s house on foot in Wakulla County, Florida. They were within walking distance of the home of Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears. All three men were armed. At around 2:00 a.m., Hertz went to a nearby resident’s home and asked to use the telephone, claiming that his truck had broken down. The resident refused, and the three men continued walking toward King and Spears’s home.

When they saw the victims’ black Ford Mustang, Looney commented that it was the car he wanted. Dempsey and Hertz then went to the victims’ front door and used a phone-call ruse to get access. King gave them a cordless phone, and Dempsey pretended to make a call. When Dempsey tried to return the phone, Hertz pointed a gun at King and forced his way inside. Looney entered after him and pointed a rifle at Spears.

King and Spears were bound and gagged with duct tape and placed face down on their bed. Hertz, Looney, and Dempsey then stole property from the home, including a television, VCR, furniture, jewelry, CDs, and cash. They loaded the victims’ belongings into the victims’ two vehicles, a black Ford Mustang and a white Ford Ranger. Looney found about $1,500 in cash, which was later divided among the three men.

After the robbery, Hertz and Looney decided that they could not leave witnesses alive. According to Dempsey’s testimony, Hertz and Looney poured accelerants throughout the home before all three men returned to the bedroom armed. King pleaded not to be shot in the head. Hertz responded, “Sorry, can’t do that,” and opened fire. Looney also fired, followed by Dempsey. King and Spears both died from gunshot wounds.

After the shootings, the house was set on fire. Hertz drove away in the victims’ white Ford Ranger, while Looney drove the black Ford Mustang with Dempsey as a passenger. The men went to Hertz’s house, unloaded stolen property, and divided the money. Later that morning, two Tallahassee Wal-Mart employees saw the men after they made purchases and showed off the vehicles. A Wal-Mart receipt was later found in the victims’ Mustang.

Later on July 27, 1997, Hertz, Looney, and Dempsey traveled to Daytona Beach Shores, where they were involved in a police pursuit and shootout. Looney and Dempsey abandoned the Mustang and were arrested after fleeing. Hertz abandoned the Ford Ranger after being shot and paid a cabdriver $100 to take him to his aunt’s house in St. Augustine. He was arrested there the same day. Police recovered Robin Keith Spears’s 9mm gun from Hertz’s bag.

Firearms evidence connected the weapons to the killings. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement firearms expert testified that one bullet recovered near the victims’ burned bed was fired from a .380 Lorcin handgun recovered from Looney. The handgun had belonged to Spears, and Dempsey testified that Hertz used it to shoot the victims. Another bullet was consistent with a .30 caliber rifle later recovered from the victims’ Mustang. Investigators also found duct tape, wallets containing cash, fingerprints from all three men, and evidence of accelerants connected to the fire.

The medical examiner testified that both victims were severely burned, but the lack of soot in their tracheas showed that they were already dead when the fire began. Melanie King had been shot at least twice in the head, and Robin Keith Spears had been shot at least once in the head. Both were estimated to have lived one to two minutes after being shot.

Hertz, Looney, and Dempsey were indicted on August 26, 1997. Hertz and Looney were tried together. On December 9, 1999, the jury convicted Hertz of two counts of first-degree murder, armed burglary of a dwelling, robbery with a firearm, arson of a dwelling, and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The jury recommended death for both murders by a vote of 10 to 2. On February 18, 2000, the trial court sentenced Hertz to death for each murder, life imprisonment for armed burglary, life imprisonment for robbery with a firearm, 30 years for arson, and 15 years for use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

On November 1, 2001, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Hertz’s convictions and death sentences. His postconviction claims were later denied in 2006. However, after changes in Florida death penalty law under Hurst, the Florida Supreme Court granted Hertz habeas relief in 2017, vacated his death sentences, and remanded the case for a new penalty phase because the original jury recommendation had not been unanimous.

After years of resentencing litigation, a new penalty phase was held. On December 16, 2024, a jury again recommended death for Hertz by a vote of 10 to 2. On February 13, 2025, the trial court resentenced him to death. His co-defendant Jason Looney was later resentenced to life without parole, while Jimmy Dempsey had already received life sentences under his plea agreement.