Florida man who kidnapped girl, 5, and left her to be eaten by alligator faces death penalty

Harrel Braddy, 76, kidnapped Quatisha Maycock, five, and her mother Shandelle in November 1998 after meeting them at church before abandoning the child near Alligator Alley where she was killed by gators

A Florida man guilty of kidnapping and killing a five-year-old girl who was then eaten by alligators in the in a part of the Everglades known as Alligator Alley is now facing the death penalty.

Harrel Braddy, 76, abducted Quatisha Maycock and her mother Shandelle in November 1998 after befriending them at church.

Braddy took Shandelle to an isolated sugar field where he strangled her until she lost consciousness, leaving her for dead. Miraculously, she survived, waking up and managing to flag down a passing motorist for help.

The kidnapper also abandoned Shandelle’s daughter, Quatisha, near a section of the Everglades ominously dubbed Alligator Alley, seemingly out of fear she would identify him. Tragically, the child was found dead two days later in a canal, having reportedly been attacked by alligators.

According to a medical examiner, Quatisha was still alive when the alligators bit her on the head and stomach. Her left arm was missing when her body was discovered. Braddy had previously been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 2007 following a jury trial.

However, due to changes in Florida’s death penalty laws, his sentencing has been reopened, creating the possibility he could avoid execution. Jury selection for his resentencing trial began this week. Under Florida’s 2023 law, Braddy could face the death penalty if an 8-4 jury vote is reached. Prosecutors have claimed Braddy targeted Shandelle after she repeatedly spurned his romantic advances. Braddy confessed to the police he had abandoned the child near a stretch of Interstate 75 in Broward County, infamously known as Alligator Alley.

He alleged he left the young girl alive by the roadside at a bridge spanning a canal. Braddy justified his actions by expressing his fear Quatisha might reveal his deeds to her mother. He also conceded he “knew” Quatisha “would probably die”, as per court documents.

Two days later, Quatisha’s body was found in a canal by a pair of fishermen. A post-mortem examination revealed her missing left arm had been severed by an alligator after death. The court was informed while still alive, though likely unconscious, Quatisha had sustained alligator bites to her chest and head.

Injuries to her lips, consistent with fish feeding on her remains, along with additional alligator bites were found on the young girl’s body. Quatisha also suffered “brush burns” whilst alive, indicative of falling from a car and skidding on the road.

The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the left side of her head. In his sentencing statement, then Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Leonard E. Glick characterised the murder as a gross betrayal of fundamental adult responsibilities. Glick stated: “Adults are supposed to protect children from monsters.” The judge added: “They are not supposed to be the monsters themselves.”

Braddy is now back in court after alterations to Florida’s death penalty laws led to his sentencing being reopened. Jury selection commenced on Monday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, as reported by the Miami Herald. In 2016 Florida’s death-penalty process was thrown into disarray when the US Supreme Court ruled the state’s sentencing system violated the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.

This was due to it allowing judges, rather than juries, to determine whether a defendant should receive the death sentence. As a result, state lawmakers passed a revised statute permitting death sentences to proceed if recommended by 10 out of 12 jurors.

However, the Florida Supreme Court overturned this amendment, stating juries must reach a unanimous decision before a death sentence can be imposed. This ruling subsequently paved the way for Braddy to return to court for resentencing.