Prosecutor to seek death penalty for Florida man charged with killing estranged wife

A Florida man accused of killing his wife and keeping her body in a storage unit will face a possible death sentence, the prosecutor for Orange County said Thursday.

Cory Hill, 51, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the killing of Shakeira Rucker, and State Attorney Andrew A. Bain said his office will seek the death penalty in the case.

Bain said Thursday that “the cold, calculating methodology of the homicide” and a prior violent offense led his office to seek the death penalty.

Rucker’s body was found in a unit at Self Storage in Apopka on Nov. 18, after her family had previously reported her missing.

Hill was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder, and this week a grand jury returned an indictment for the more serious first-degree murder charge, Bain said.

Dedra Rucker said that the family has been on an “emotional rollercoaster” since her sister was slain, and agreed with the state attorney’s decision to seek the death penalty.

“We’ve been angry, we’ve been sad. Very confused,” Dedra Rucker said at Thursday’s news conference. “It’s just an indescribable pain that we feel.”

Hill was initially charged on Nov. 29 in Rucker’s death, as he was already in custody after he allegedly shot at an ex-girlfriend and her family on Nov. 12, officials have said. At that time he had been charged with second-degree murder with a firearm.

The storage unit belonged to Hill, according to authorities. An employee noticed an odor and called 911, and a search uncovered her body.