FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jurors found Dayonte “Moochie” Resiles guilty of first-degree murder Friday after a mistrial was declared in the 27-year-old’s first trial in December.
Resiles is convicted of fatally stabbing 59-year-old Jill Halliburton Su in 2014.
He showed no emotion when the verdict was read.
Resiles’ family had no comment as they exited the courtroom. His defense attorney said they plan to appeal his conviction.
The judge told the jury Friday that the penalty phase will be held in about 30 days. He ordered them not to discuss the case with anyone during that time or research the case.
Resiles chose not to take the stand in his own defense after the prosecution spent weeks building their case against him in the killing of Su nearly eight years ago.
On Tuesday, the judge read the jury the official charging documents, and then the state and defense each made closing arguments before the case went into the hands of the jury.
Prosecutors said Resiles broke into Su’s home, but ended up getting into a struggle with her, stabbing her to death, tying her up and leaving her in a bathtub full of bloody water inside her Davie home.
During closing arguments, the state said DNA evidence put Resiles in the home and proves he was the murderer.
“The defense and I are not going to agree on a lot, but I think we will agree a crime was committed. That Mrs. Jill Su was brutally murdered in her home on September 8, 2014,” prosecutor Maria Schneider said. “Science tells you the defendant killed Jill Su.”
The defense began their closing argument after the state, doing their best to contradict the prosecution’s argument, poking holes in their case and trying to make room for reasonable doubt.
“They had 7 1/2 years to bring you all of the evidence, to test everything they needed to test, to bring you witnesses, to bring you concrete, credible proof, that he killed Jill Su. And 7 1/2 years were wasted because they did not do that,” defense attorney Allari Dominguez said.
Resiles could face the death penalty when he is sentenced. A status hearing has been scheduled for April 1.
The Su family was not in the courtroom to hear the verdict, but the prosecutor said she spoke with them post-verdict.
“I mean there’s nothing that’s gonna bring back Mrs. Su. There’s nothing that’s gonna make up for the loss of, you know, a wonderful woman but they’re so happy to know that they put their faith on the legal process and in the end it worked out,” Schneider said.