ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Jury selection began Monday for the murder trial of DeMorris Hunter, who is accused of the 2002 killing of Theresa Green in College Park. Hunter, who was previously convicted of killing three people in California, faces a potential death sentence in the Florida cold case.
Jury selection is expected to continue until Thursday, with opening statements scheduled to start on April 3.
The trial follows over a decade of delays and postponements in Orange County. An Orange County grand jury indicted Hunter for Green’s death in 2014, and he was extradited to Florida from California in 2015 to face murder charges.
He has been incarcerated for a total of 25 years across facilities in both states, including more than a decade spent in the Orange County Jail awaiting the start of this trial.
While detained in the local jail, Hunter has been assigned at least six different public defenders.
Defense attorneys have filed legal motions to prevent the death penalty from being considered if Hunter is convicted. However, these motions have not been successful so far, and the death penalty is still a possible sentence for the prosecutors.
While Hunter was sentenced to life in prison for his previous convictions in California, he could face the death penalty in the Florida case.
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