Jury to continue deliberations Thursday in Southern Parkway murder case

After deliberating for nearly six hours, jurors Wednesday evening were sent home and ordered to return Thursday to continue to deliberate the fate of the last defendant still facing charges in the fatal shooting of a Bradenton man and his girlfriend during an armed burglary of their home.

Jimmie McNear, 21, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of armed burglary.

Up until last month, McNear was possibly facing death if convicted of first-degree murder. However, after the outcome in the trial against his co-defendant, Trey Nonnomnre, the State Attorney’s Office announced it would no longer seek the death penalty. If convicted of first-degree murder, McNear would automatically be sentenced to life in prison.

Just before 4 a.m. on July 9, 2015, Bradenton police were called to the home of Kantral Brooks and his girlfriend, Esther Deneus, in the 3900 block of Southern Parkway in Bradenton after the break-in triggered their home’s security system. Officers arrived to find the couple’s five children, ages 1 to 11 at the time, standing together in the living room where both their parents had been shot.

The children, who officers say appeared terrified when they arrived, had to be helped over Brooks’ body to exit the home while other officers attempted to aid Deneus.

Earlier this year, Terez Jones, 35, took a deal by pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of armed burglary and was sentenced to 25 years, avoiding the death penalty or life in prison. A condition of deal, however, was that Jones testify against his co-defendants. On Sept. 28, a jury found Trey Nonnombre, 20, guilty on the identical charges they all faced.

On Wednesday, a jury panel of 14, including the two alternates, listened to closing arguments in McNear’s case.

Defense attorney William Bennett asked the jury to question the credibility of the state’s witnesses, including Jones.

“Sometimes the people with the best information are those that helped commit the crime,” Assistant State Attorney Art Brown said in his rebuttal.

Brown also questioned why the defendant’s star witness, Trayvon McNear, didn’t come forward right away.

“What normal person wouldn’t march down to law enforcement right away and say, ‘My brother is innocent. I know because I was with him,’” Brown said.

The brick used to break the glass on the door to the couple’s home was held up for the jury during Brown’s closing statements as he reminded them that McNear’s DNA had been found on the brick. The brick was porous and therefore not conducive to pulling prints, leading to a decision that it would be better to test for DNA.

“Crime scene manager Rich Talbot told you swabbing for DNA ... would eliminate any potential prints if there were any,” Brown said.

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Jury to continue deliberations Thursday in Southern Parkway murder case."