A Broward County jury on Monday convicted 26-year-old Marvin Jean-Pierre of first-degree homicide within the 2020 killing of his roommate, 52-year-old Jose Mondelus.
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The responsible verdict got here almost every week after the trial started. Jean-Pierre was instantly sentenced to life in jail. He has 30 days to attraction.
Protection legal professional Gabe Ermine stated his crew plans to problem the ruling. “Whereas we respect the jury’s verdict, we disagree with it. In fact, we respect it, and we plan to attraction,” he stated.
Jurors weighed Jean-Pierre’s claims of self-defense in opposition to the prosecution’s case for premeditated homicide. Jean-Pierre testified that he acted after waking as much as undesirable sexual advances from Mondelus, throwing an iron at him and fearing he was about to be assaulted.
However prosecutors offered grim proof that instructed a distinct story. Mondelus’ physique was discovered inside a closet on the Miramar condo in January 2021. His ft had been sure with a necktie, a bag was over his head, and his physique had been wrapped in a carpet.
A health worker testified that whereas Mondelus suffered blunt drive trauma, the reason for loss of life was asphyxia from handbook strangulation and plastic bag suffocation.
Mondelus, a longtime household good friend, had been residing with Jean-Pierre after the youthful man’s mom organized the housing following his eviction from their residence for smoking marijuana. His sister reported him lacking after he did not reply his door or attend church band performances in late December 2020.
Police found his physique on Jan. 1, 2021, throughout a welfare verify.
