FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It was Sept. 8, 2014 when a 59-year-old woman was found stabbed and bound in the bathtub of her Davie home.
On Wednesday, 27-year-old Dayonte Resiles, sat in a Broward County courtroom as both the prosecution and the defense gave their opening arguments in the case against him. Resiles is accused of killing Jill Halliburton Su inside her home in the gated WestRidge development off Nob Hill Road.
Both the prosecution and defense addressed the jury, telling them about the key points in the case, the key players and the evidence they should expect to hear.
Resiles has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder
“The belt of the robe is what was used to tie her hands,” prosecuting attorney Maria Schneider told the jury.
A police warrant states that Resiles’ DNA was found on a knife and belt loop used to tie up Halliburton Su. The prosecution is saying that Su’s son found his mother’s lifeless body the day of the murder. The defense is pointing at Su’s then 20-year-old son, Justin, who called 911.
The chilling 911 call was played in court Wednesday with Justin Su saying, “She looks so cut up!”
Nan-Yao Su took the stand on Wednesday recounting when his son told him of his wife’s death. “He was totally in panic, his voice was shaking, (he) was screaming something.”
He choked up on the stand when he recalled seeing his wife’s body wheeled out of their home on a gurney.
“They rolled her out on the stretcher, covered in a blanket and that’s when I lost it. I screamed at the medical people: ‘Revive her, do something. She can’t be dead.”
But Defense Attorney Michael Orlando told the jury that “the DNA evidence in this case is not gonna show you who killed Jill Su. It’s not going to prove that Dayonte Resiles killed Jill Su.”
In July of 2016 during a pre-trial hearing, Resiles escaped from the Broward County Courthouse. He was taken into custody four days later in Palm Beach County.
Court documents stated that after his escape, friends of Resiles made up an alibi to help in his case and the evidence shows Resiles offered to pay someone to provide false testimony.
“I am going to ask you that as hard as it may be, you reach a verdict that speaks the truth and you hold Dayonte Resiles responsible for the killing of Jill Su,” Schneider told the jury.
On Thursday, the judge told members of the jury that they should expect that the trial will continue throughout the rest of November and most likely into December.