Trial begins for Jacksonville suspect in elderly woman's hammer beating death
Prosecutors say a Jacksonville man hit an 82-year-old woman with a hammer at least 17 times, striking her head, neck and back during a 2009 burglary that now has him on trial with the death penalty a possibility.
Cecil Shyron King, 41, is charged in the death of Renie Telzer-Bain. Authorities connected King to the murder using DNA evidence and tracing back several pawned items. At the time of the murder, King was a lawn worker looking for jobs.
Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda said King took "an ungodly number of items" from Telzer-Bain, with the list extending to 50 or 60 of her possessions. Before he left, police say he killed Telzer-Bain and also took a bite out of a piece of cantaloupe that was later used as evidence tying him to the crime scene although he had left no fingerprints.
"This defendant knew exactly what he was doing," de la Rionda said. "Thank goodness we recovered that cantaloupe and had good police who knew what to do with it."
But defense attorney Quentin Till argued that the DNA evidence from the fruit should be disregarded.
"You won't see the container. You won't see the melon. Why? They threw it away. They didn't think they'd need that part. So I can't test it. We just have to rely on what they say," Till told the jury.
Till called the case against King speculative and told the jury that King is adamant about his innocence.
Trial opened Tuesday before Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper and is expected to span several days.
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