BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Attorneys brought a Brevard County courtroom back to a February day inside Cocoa’s Dixie motel as part of a bond hearing for 19-year-old Joshua Keravuori.
Keravuori is accused of fatally stabbing 65-year-old Terry Hilliard, of Ocala, inside of his motel room on Feb. 6 before taking off in Hilliard’s car.
A grand jury indicted him in March on a charge of premeditated first-degree murder in Hilliard's death.
Keravuori said Hilliard tried to rape him at the Dixie Motel on Forrest Avenue, so he stabbed him, investigators said.
Ernie Chang, an attorney charged with Keravuori’s defense, pointed out the teen surrendered himself in Georgia.
“One reported admission that he makes is that this gentleman, Mr. Hillard, picked him up, took him to a hotel room, and attempted to rape him,” he said.
Chang contends this suggests a justifiable homicide.
Attorneys for Keravuori appeared to preview their defense for his first-degree murder charge during the hearing, which also included the submission of graphic crime scene photos and testimony from Cocoa police and the medical examiner’s office.
“We had 27 total wounds, out of which 20 were stab wounds, three incise wounds, three puncture wounds and one abrasion,” said Sajid Qaiser, a coroner.
Keravuori turned himself in to officials in Alpharetta, Georgia, after a nationwide manhunt.
Cox Media Group
