Mesac Damas

In January 2019, the Supreme Court affirmed the original sentence, confirming six death sentences.

As the case proceeded, Damas' courtroom behavior became generally less disruptive but not necessarily any more cooperative. At nearly every court appearance attended by Damas in 2017, he could be seen sitting silently with his head resting on the table, possibly asleep.

At a hearing on June 23, 2017, Damas unexpectedly rose to his feet and stated in open court that he wanted to discharge his attorneys, represent himself, and plead guilty to the charges against him. At a later hearing on July 21, 2017 to determine his ability to adequately represent himself and enter a guilty plea to six capital felonies, Damas again became uncooperative, making rambling and disjointed statements to the court.

At one hearing in October 2017, Damas handwrote a note to the presiding judge which read, "Go ahead, continue your work, may my blood be upon your shoulders," signing the note "C.O.G."

On September 5, 2017, Mesac Damas pled guilty to all six counts of first degree premeditated murder. Sentencing was deferred until October 27, 2017, when Collier Circuit Judge Christine H. Greider sentenced Mesac Damas to concurrent death sentences on all six counts.

Damas was then re-evaluated and found incompetent to proceed on March 19, 2014 by a court order which cited, "a substantial likelihood that in the near future the defendant will inflict serious bodily harm on himself or another person, as evidenced by recent behavior." Additionally, the order stated that Damas' condition had "substantial probability" of responding well to treatment with the goal of restoring his competency to proceed "in the reasonably foreseeable future." It was at this time that he was committed to the custody of the Department of Children and Families and referred to a mental health treatment facility, where he was admitted in April 2014.

In October 2014, his competency was found to have been restored by a court order, stating that facility records note Damas was "aggressive, manipulative, and deceitful, and would engage in cooperative behavior when necessary to get something he wanted," as well as describing Damas as "grandiose, preoccupied with his own self-worth, entitled and wants to be admired by others, lacks empathy, and arrogant." Reports further state that Damas "has the ability to engage in appropriate behavior, and his refusal to do so at times is a volitional choice, and not a symptom of mental illness".

While being held in custody, Damas rejected his legal name and took on a moniker of his own making, "C.O.G." — an acronym meaning "Child of God".

Between September 2010 and March 2011, three experts were appointed by the court to evaluate Damas' competency, resulting in a June 2011 court order finding him competent to proceed. Despite this, competency issues persisted as the case proceeded and as Damas' behavior became more bizarre.

Damas' courtroom behavior often became a spectacle and attracted much media attention. One August 2010 court appearance involved Damas singing aloud until his lawyer and the presiding judge told him to calm down. He ceased until the hearing was almost over, but then began again with the outbursts.

In January 2009, eight months prior to the murders, Damas was arrested for domestic violence battery against his wife, Guerline, whom he had been with for 12 years. The incident arose over Damas' suspicions of unfaithfulness on the part of his wife.

In a statement to US Marshal agents, Damas divulged that on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, his wife, Guerline Damas, brought up the topic of divorce while at home that evening. Damas stated that the conversation became frenzied, and that at one point he said to his wife, "Divorce me? I'll [expletive] kill you."

The following morning, Thursday, September 17, 2009, Damas followed his wife to work for her 5:00AM shift at Publix to make sure she was "really there". Another argument then ensued when she discovered that he had followed her.

On Saturday September 19, 2009, the family of Guerline Damas contacted the Collier County Sheriff's Office to file a missing person's report, as they had not heard from Guerline since Thursday, September 17, 2009 and she had not reported to work.

On the morning of Friday, September 18, 2009, Mesac Damas went to the Miami International Airport and purchased a ticket for a one-way flight to Port Au Prince, Haiti, where he arrived at 10:50 AM the same day.

On September 22, 2009 a warrant was signed by a Collier County judge for the arrest of Mesac Damas for the murder of his wife and five children.

On September 23, 2009, Damas was apprehended by United States Marshal Service agents in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Damas voluntarily provided a lengthy statement to agents at that time, saying, among other things, "I know what I did was wrong. Bad spirits made me do it." and asking agents, "You think I want to live after what I did?"

Mesac Damas (born July 2, 1976) is an American man convicted of the murder of his wife and five children at their home in Collier County, Florida in 2009.

Mesac Damas was born in Haiti on July 2, 1976. Damas had an unstable family life and was influenced in his youth by domestic violence and poverty.