A Florida man, convicted of murdering his cellmate using a pen, displayed a chilling demeanor in court as he was handed a life sentence on Tuesday.
Marcus Terry, aged 43, was found guilty of second-degree murder in December 2025. The conviction stemmed from the 2021 incident at the Dade Correctional Institution in Homestead, where Terry fatally stabbed his cellmate in the head with a pen, NBC Miami reported.
In Tuesday’s court proceedings, Terry’s attorney, Steven Yermish, petitioned Judge Ellen Sue Venzer for a retrial. Yermish contended that the previous trial, held at the end of last year, included inadmissible evidence, according to the outlet.
Despite Yermish’s arguments, Judge Venzer denied the request for a new trial and imposed a life sentence without the possibility of parole. She recounted the brutal details of the crime, describing how Terry drove a pen into the brain of his cellmate, 64-year-old Ray Matos.
“He shoved a pillowcase into his mouth. When the guards arrived to investigate, they found him standing over the victim, with blood on his hands,” Venzer stated.
“He shoved a pillowcase into his mouth. When the guards came in to find out what was going on, he was standing on top of this man, and his hand was bloodied,” Venzer said.
As the judge was detailing the murder, Terry began smiling and laughing.
“I’m not sure why you’re laughing,” Venzer said to him.
Marcus Terry was found guilty of second-degree murder in December for killing his cellmate in 2021. (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department)
“You are amusing,” Terry responded.
The judge replied that she “found nothing amusing about your behavior or the death of this gentleman.”
“God have mercy on your soul,” Venzer said while handing down his sentence.
Terry may now appeal his sentence, according to NBC Miami.
Ray Matos was killed by Marcus Terry inside the Dade Correctional Institute in Homestead. (Florida Department of Corrections)
Terry was already serving a life sentence for armed burglary and armed robbery when he killed Matos, who was his cellmate for less than a week, court records showed.
Matos was found on the ground in the cell, lying in a pool of blood as Terry sat on the lower bunk, according to an arrest warrant.
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