Jury selection underway for one defendant in Bradenton double-murder case

Jury selection is underway in the trial of one of the men charged in the 2015 fatal shooting of a Bradenton couple whose five children were home at the time.

Trey Nonnombre, 21, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed home invasion in the July 9, 2015, fatal shootings of Esther Deneus and her boyfriend, Kantral Markeith Brooks, both 29.

If convicted of first-degree murder, the state is seeking the death penalty.

Just before 4 a.m., Bradenton police officers were called to the 3900 block of Southern Parkway after a security alarm was triggered by the break-in at the home Deneus and Brooks shared. When officers arrived, they found the couple shot dead in the home.

The couple’s five children, between the ages of 1 and 11 at the time, were not injured but were near their parents’ bodies when police arrived.

Jury selection started Monday after being delayed a week by Hurricane Irma. A pool of about 150 jurors was summoned and has been undergoing individual voir dire, being questioned one by one by Assistant State Attorneys Art Brown and Rebecca Muller and defense attorneys Daniel Hernandez and Bjorn Brunvand as Circuit Judge Diana Moreland presides.

Potential jurors are being questioned about any prior knowledge of the case because of the media attention it received locally, hardships the duration of the trial set to run through Oct. 2 could pose, and any strong feelings they may have for or against the death penalty.

One potential juror broke down crying during her questioning and said, “I have a soft spot for infants and older people.”

Another juror also got upset because she said the murders happened in her backyard and across the street where she once attended school — at Robert H. Prine Elementary.

“I don’t feel I could be fair and impartial in this case,” she said.

More than 40 potential jurors still need to go through the individual questioning and will return Thursday. Court is set to resume at 8:30 a.m., although the courthouse will otherwise be closed for the Jewish holiday.

On Friday, potential jurors not dismissed for cause during individual questioning will return to be questioned as a group. Of the 107 questioned, there have 37 asked to return so far.

Nonnombre’s co-defendant, Jimmie McNear, 20, is set to stand trial on identical charges during a five-week trial period that begins Oct. 16, after the conclusion of another death penalty case in Sarasota that Moreland is presiding over.

A third defendant, Terez Jones, 34, had been facing identical charges and the death penalty as well, but took a plea deal earlier this year and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Jones will have to testify truthfully against McNear and Nonnombre as part of his plea deal.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Jury selection underway for one defendant in Bradenton double-murder case."