A Hernando County jury found R W Resca Jr., age 46, guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The charges stem from the November 19, 2023 death of his mother, Dabanee Cook-Resca, age 75, whose body was dumped in a storm drain behind a Dollar General on Cortez Boulevard.
Deputies located Cook-Resca’s body in a storm drain off a dead-end road near Cortez Boulevard after a citizen report. She wore a bathrobe and had a debit card in a pocket. The medical examiner determined cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest. The body showed early decomposition.
Cook-Resca and the defendant resided together at a nearby address.
During questioning at the residence, R W stated he had not seen his mother for several days. After being informed her body had been found and the death was being investigated as a homicide, R W confessed to shooting Cook-Resca and placing her body in the storm drain.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Lori Ellingsworth and Benjamin Larison. Sentencing is pending.
