MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Testimony continued on Friday for a brother and sister who are accused of killing a teen in Marion County.
Prosecutors said Kyle Hooper and Amber Wright were part of a five-person plot to kill 15-year-old Seath Jackson.
On Friday, one of the teens already convicted of murder in the case took the stand.
Prosecutors said Charlie Ely was a key figure in the plot to kill Jackson, and they've already sent her to prison for it.
But she was called back to Marion County court to help her co-defendants.
With shackles on her wrists and ankles, 19-year-old Ely shuffled through the courtroom and took the stand.
"Miss Ely, you were present in the house on the day Seath Jackson was killed?" Ely was asked.
"I'd rather not answer that," Ely said.
Ely refused to testify, just as she did at her own trial.
Prosecutors said Jackson was shot to death in Ely's home, and she was part of the group that plotted the killing.
Attorneys for Hooper and Wright acknowledge the siblings were at the house when Jackson was killed but said they did not take part in the killing. Ely, however, refused to confirm that.
"At that time, did you hear Kyle Hooper, before Seath Jackson was killed say, 'Get the f*** out of the house?'" Ely was asked in court.
"I'd like to remain silent," Ely said.
Prosecutors said because of Wright's hatred of Jackson, she lured him to Ely's house where he was beaten and shot. Prosecutors said his body was then burned and stuffed into 5-gallon paint drums and dumped into a flooded rock quarry.
The medical examiner said bullet fragments were found in the remains.
"The X-ray depicts several bits of bone and soft tissue, as well as an apparent projectile," said medical examiner Dr. Kyle Shaw.
But it was Ely's silence on the stand that may have hurt the defense of the siblings.
"Miss Ely, if any further questions were asked of you, would that be your response to each and every question asked?" Judge David Eddy asked.
"Yes, sir," said Ely.
On Monday, the judge will decide whether to force Ely to testify.
Hooper and Wright face life in prison if convicted.
WFTV
