ORLANDO, Fla. — It was an emotional day in court Wednesday for the families of two Winter Park High School students whose bodies were found shot and burned on the Cady Way Trail.
Prosecutors said Hector Rodriguez was one of two men who killed Nicholas Presha, 16, and Jeremy Stewart, 18, after the two met with him and Jesse Davis about a gun for sale.
Rodriguez claims he was not there when his friend, Davis, killed Presha and Stewart, but he admitted being at Davis' house when investigators said the two teenagers were stripped down, tied up, blindfolded and tortured.
Rodriguez said Davis dropped him off before the teens were killed, and he claims he didn't play a role in their deaths.
Davis, who pleaded guilty to the killings, is a career criminal, according to investigators. He is one of four witnesses listed by the defense.
He told authorities following his sentencing that Rodriguez had nothing to do with the killings, but the state said he's lying.
"There was juvenile delinquency going on. You will hear the evidence, but it was their naiveté that led them to the two people who would take their lives," said prosecutor Ken Lewis.
During testimony, the jury saw gruesome photographs of the victims' charred bodies. The families stayed in court and looked at the photos through teary eyes, Channel 9's Kathi Belich said.
As the photos were shown, Rodriguez appeared to have no emotional reaction, Belich said. At one point, he shook his head as he looked at a photo of the bodies.
Both families were they for testimony of the crime scene technician from the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the same agency Presha's father used to work for.
The tech took the photos of the bodies and collected nearby beer containers, one of which investigators said contained Rodriguez's DNA.
The state's first witness, Jamie O'Neal, was one of the people who found the burning bodies.
"The fire itself appeared to be about 3 feet high," O'Neail said. "It was a circle of fire about 6 feet in diameter. The bodies appeared to be spooning. There did not appear to be anything outside of that area burning."
Earlier in the day, the state told the jury that Davis couldn't have murdered the two teenagers by himself. They said Rodriguez was with him every step of the way.
But the defense told the jury that it was a third man who actually helped Davis, John Tischer, who is a state witness against Rodriguez.
The trial will pick back up Thursday.
WFTV
