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Slaying victim's family gather for prayer before Ocoee home invasion trial

OCOEE, Fla. — Jury selection continued Tuesday in a high-profile Orange County home invasion case.

Bessman Okafor and Nolan Bernard are on trial in connection with a deadly home invasion in Ocoee last year.

The two are accused of breaking into Alex Zaldivar's home, tying him and his roommates up, and then robbing them.

Okafor is also charged with killing Zaldivar months later, allegedly to prevent him from testifying, but the case is only for the home invasion, not the killing.

Many of the potential jurors called to hear the home invasion case against Okafor and Bernard have heard about the case, and many know Okafor is also charged with killing Zaldivar.

The jurors in the home invasion case are not supposed to know about the killing, so many have been excused.

Family and friends gathered for prayer outside the courthouse Tuesday, which marked one year since Zaldivar was killed.

Zaldivar's father, Rafael Zaldivar, read his son's police statement and talked about his pain.

"I saw my son on the floor, the silhouette of his face in a pool of blood. It was still moist. I was able to touch my son's blood and that was the last time I could feel and touch my son," he said.

It's possible a jury won't be seated in the case until Thursday. The trial is expected to take eight days.

"(Okafor is) getting a reality check. This is not a joke anymore. This guy's been coming out of the prison system. He's been arrested more than 18 times so he knows the game," said Rafael Zaldivar.

Lawyers will now start questioning a group of 60-plus potential jurors to figure out which ones they want on the jury.

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