MIAMI (WSVN) - After a nine-year legal battle, a Kendall man was found guilty of murder for fatally shooting his son’s neighbor following a dispute over a dog defecating in his son’s yard.
Investigators said 75-year-old Omar Rodriguez confronted 52-year-old Jose Rey with a gun and pulled the trigger.
The jury verdict came in Friday, convicting Rodriguez of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
“We the jury find as to count one, the defendant is guilty of a lesser included offense of second-degree murder,” said the foreperson. “As to count two, the defendant is guilty as charged on aggravated assault.”
Cameras captured the victim’s family sitting in the courtroom as the foreperson read the verdict.
“So say we all, this third day of May 2024, in Miami-Dade County,” said the foreperson.
Rey, a husband and father of two, died days after the shooting.
Throughout the trial, Rodriguez chose not to testify.
“On the advice of counsel, I’m not taking the stand,” said Rodriguez.
The case drew to a close nearly nine years after Rodriguez’s arrest in June 2015.
Rodriguez’s sentencing date remains unclear.
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