‘You are amusing': Killer laughs as judge hands down life sentence in Miami-Dade murder

A man police say stabbed his cellmate in the brain with a pen in a Miami-Dade jail giggled and smiled while learning he would be sentenced to life in prison.

Marcus Terry, 43, was found guilty of second-degree murder in December of 2025 for killing his cell mate inside the county jail.

On Tuesday, Terry was in court where his attorney Steven Yermish requested that Judge Ellen Sue Venzer grant his client a new trial, claiming inadmissible evidence made it into the December trial.

Venzer denied the motion for the new trial and continued with sentencing, where she mentioned Terry jammed a pen into his cellmate’s brain.

“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.

While the judge was describing the murder, Terry started to giggle in court.

“I’m not sure why you’re laughing,” Venzer said.

“You are amusing,” Terry replied.

“I found nothing amusing about your behavior or the death of this gentleman,” Venzer said.

“God have mercy on your soul,” the judge said while issuing a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Terry can now appeal his sentence.