After a week-long process, attorneys look to seat jury in Bradenton double-murder case

Attorneys are hoping to seat a jury on Friday in the trial of one of the men charged in the 2015 fatal shootings of of Bradenton couple in their home with their five children present.

Trey Nonnombre, 21, is facing 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, he would face the death penalty or an automatic life sentence.

After a week delay because of Hurricane Irma, jury selection began on Monday. More than 150 potential jurors have since been questioned individually by attorneys as Circuit Judge Diana Moreland presided over the process.

Assistant State Attorneys Art Brown and Rebecca Muller and defense attorneys Daniel Hernandez and Bjorn Brunvand were only permitted to ask potential jurors about their prior knowledge of the case, 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.

On Friday, the 56 potential jurors who had not been eliminated during individual questioning will return for the general jury selection process. Court is set to resume at 8:45 a.m.

Just before 4 a.m., on July 9, 2015, 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. Police had found them near their parents’ bodies when they arrived.

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 he 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 21, 2017 at 6:20 PM with the headline "After a week-long process, attorneys look to seat jury in Bradenton double-murder case."