Witness-tampering trial delayed for accused killer's mom

OCOEE, Fla. — The trial for the mother of the man accused of shooting and killing a teenager and wounding two others was delayed Monday.

Catalina Ruffin-Sinclair told a judge that she needed more time to find a private attorney.

Ruffin-Sinclair is accused of trying to bribe the witnesses to a home invasion to keep them from testifying against her son, Bessman Okafor.

She could face up to 24 months in prison if convicted.

Last year, an Ocoee home was the scene of a home invasion and later a murder, police said.

In May, Ocoee police said Nolan Bernard and Okafor broke into the home and stole personal items.

Three home invasion victims were set to testify against them in a September trial.

That's when police said Ruffin-Sinclair tried to bribe them with money and a car to drop the charges against her son.

Police said the three didn't take the bribe and that Okafor may have taken matters into his own hands.

One day before their scheduled testimony, all three were shot in the same home.

Alex Zaldivar, 19, was killed.

"You lost a model citizen. This guy was going to be something, you know. He was smart, brilliant [and] outgoing," said his father Rafael Zaldivar. "They shot him like a coward on the back of the head, in his back."

Police said Okafor's phone showed Internet searches for how to remove gunpowder residue from skin and clothing.

WFTV