FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The trial has started for an accused killer who was arrested twice after escaping from the Broward County Courthouse years ago.
The case began in September of 2014 when then-20-year-old Dayonte Resiles allegedly killed Jill Su inside her Davie home.
Police believe Resiles was attempting to burglarize Su’s home and did not realize she was home. He tied Su up and stabbed her to death. Her son would find her in the bathtub.
Police said his attack on Su would have been his ninth home burglary.
Two years later, in 2016, Resiles was in court for a routine hearing when he got up and ran from the courtroom. Security cameras showed him running out a stairway door to a waiting car.
He was found six days later in a motel in Riviera Beach.
Resiles appeared in court on Wednesday, seven years since the original crime, and is being tried with first-degree murder.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The prosecution and defense both made their opening statements.
“I am going to ask you that, as hard as it may be, you reach a verdict that speaks the truth and hold Dayonte Resiles responsible for the murder of Jill Su,” said the prosecutor.
“I ask you to not draw any conclusions about the evidence until you’ve heard everything in the case, and after you’ve done that, I ask you to come back with a verdict. Thank you,” said the defense attorney.
The jury will hear from witnesses in the case, including Su’s husband, who testified in court about that dreadful day.
“I screamed at the medical people, ‘Revive her, do something.’ She can’t be dead. It’s such a shame,” said Nan-Yao Su.
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