Convictions upheld in Billings Case
State Attorney Bill Eddins announced today that in an unanimous opinion the Florida
Supreme Court has upheld both the convictions and sentences imposed on Leonard
Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. Gonzalez was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and
one count of home invasion robbery with a firearm and received corresponding sentences
on those charges of death and life in prison. These charges arose from the shooting
deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings in their Escambia County home on July 9, 2009.
On February 17, 2011 Judge Nicholas Geeker followed the jury’s recommendation and
sentenced Gonzalez to death for both murders. In imposing the death sentence, Judge
Geeker found as aggravating factors that Gonzalez had a conviction for a prior violent
felony, that the murder was committed during the course of a robbery/pecuniary gain, and
that the murders were heinous, atrocious, and cruel. In upholding the conviction, the
Supreme Court found that the convictions were supported by competent, substantial
evidence.