Domenico Gigante waived a jury and left a Brevard County judge to decide whether he will receive life imprisonment or death.

VIERA, Fla. — A Florida man has pleaded guilty to murdering his 15-year-old daughter and three other people inside a Brevard County home in 2023, ending the question of criminal responsibility while leaving a judge to decide whether he should be sentenced to death. Domenico C. Gigante, 40, entered guilty pleas Aug. 27 to four counts of first-degree premeditated murder and an armed burglary charge while representing himself in court.

The pleas marked a decisive turn in a capital case that had been pending for more than three years. Prosecutors from Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit said they will continue seeking the death penalty despite Gigante’s decision to admit the killings. Gigante also waived his right to a trial and his right to have a jury participate in the penalty phase. Brevard County Circuit Judge Laura Moody will therefore make the sentencing decision. The State Attorney’s Office has said that proceeding is expected in late October or early November, although a final sentence had not been announced as of Oct. 17.

The four victims were Gigante’s daughter, Kiarra Terwilliger, 15; Kiarra’s mother, Constance Terwilliger, 35; her maternal grandmother, Glenda Terwilliger, 63; and Michael Watson, 36. Authorities said all four were living at the home on Alan Shepard Avenue in the Canaveral Groves area when Gigante entered during the early morning of March 1, 2023. Two younger children were also in the residence. They survived without physical injury and contacted a relative for help after the shooting, helping bring law enforcement to the home shortly before 2 a.m.

Investigators said the killings followed a worsening relationship between Gigante and Kiarra. According to an arrest affidavit and later statements from prosecutors, Gigante had been frustrated because his daughter did not want a relationship with him. His roommate told investigators that only hours before the killings, Gigante had talked about his anger toward his daughter and her family and said he intended to kill them. That statement later became one part of a larger body of evidence investigators used to reconstruct his movements before and after the shooting.

Surveillance video from Gigante’s Rockledge residence showed him leaving shortly before 1 a.m. in a pickup truck and carrying an object investigators said appeared to be a firearm. Cameras near the victims’ home later recorded a vehicle matching the truck entering the driveway. Audio captured by a neighboring camera recorded gunshots and a woman screaming before the vehicle was seen leaving. Home surveillance at Gigante’s residence showed him returning less than an hour after he had departed, according to the arrest affidavit described by local news organizations.

Deputies quickly focused on Gigante after the four victims were found. When investigators contacted him and his roommate, authorities said they told the two men that Gigante’s daughter had died and asked them to accompany investigators for additional questioning. According to the affidavit, the roommate later told law enforcement that he confronted Gigante privately about whether he had been responsible. The roommate said Gigante admitted shooting his daughter. Investigators arrested Gigante later that day. He was initially charged with four counts of first-degree murder and held without bond.

A Brevard County grand jury formally indicted Gigante later in March 2023 on four counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm and one count of armed burglary. Prosecutors subsequently announced that they intended to seek capital punishment. In their death-penalty notice, they pointed to several alleged aggravating circumstances, including the number of people killed, the killing of Gigante’s daughter while she was under his familial authority, the commission of the murders during a burglary and the prosecution’s position that the crimes were calculated and premeditated.

For much of the case, Gigante was represented by a public defender and maintained a not-guilty plea. That changed during the summer of 2026. In July, he chose to dismiss his appointed attorney and represent himself. By Aug. 27, his position had shifted further. Instead of proceeding toward a trial at which prosecutors would have been required to prove the charges, Gigante admitted the crimes. During the plea hearing, he told the judge that his goal was to “take full accountability” and indicated he did not intend to contest the state’s case.

The guilty pleas sharply narrowed what remains for the court to decide. Gigante no longer faces a trial over whether he committed the four murders or the armed burglary. Instead, the unresolved issue is punishment. Local reporting from the plea hearing said the possible outcomes include life imprisonment or a death sentence. Because Gigante also surrendered his right to a jury penalty proceeding, Moody will hear the sentencing case and make that decision without a jury recommendation. Prosecutors have not withdrawn their request for capital punishment.

The plea hearing also placed Gigante’s admissions in contrast with the position he had occupied earlier in the case. Investigators had spent years preparing to prove the murders through physical evidence, surveillance records, witness statements and the chronology surrounding the shooting. A trial could have required presentation of that material to jurors. By pleading guilty, Gigante eliminated the need for a guilt-phase trial while leaving prosecutors free to rely on the circumstances of the crimes when they argue for the punishment they have sought since 2023.

The case began with the actions of the two children who survived inside the Canaveral Groves home. Authorities said one of the children reached a relative through a video call after the shootings. That relative contacted emergency services, and deputies arriving at the residence discovered the four victims. Early reports described the children as ages 6 and 9; a later Florida child-fatality summary listed the surviving siblings as 7 and 9 at the time of the incident. The children’s identities have not been publicly emphasized in subsequent court reporting.

Gigante remains in custody while the capital sentencing process moves forward. The State Attorney’s Office has said Moody will determine whether the four murder convictions result in a death sentence or life imprisonment. As of Oct. 17, no final sentence had been publicly announced in the reliable sources reviewed for this report, and the prosecution’s stated position remains that capital punishment should be imposed.

Author note: Last updated October 17, 2026.