Determined to spend life in prison for murder | Highlands News-Sun

The trial began Tuesday morning and at the end of the day, assistant prosecutors Richard Castillo and Hernandez rested their cases. On Wednesday, both the state (prosecution) and defense gave their closing statements.

The jury consisted of six women and one gentleman. Shortly after the trial began, a juror told Estrada that she had discovered that a family member was incarcerated with Bent. Luckily she was a deputy and was fired.

Castillo won the case without the help of DNA, fingerprints or even the gun used to shoot Reese. According to his mother, Kimberly Nelson, Reese had just turned 21 days old before he was killed. The case relied on the testimony of law enforcement, witnesses and even a video and audio recording of Bent speaking to a confidential informant working with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Some prosecution witnesses took the stand reluctantly. A witness who was near the crime scene when she was outside her house with another woman and her boyfriend did not want to give her address out loud in court because she said she was afraid of the defendant. Still, she testified that she heard gunshots and saw Reese fall backwards from the short concrete wall in his yard where he was sitting.

The previous witness' friend said he heard a series of gunshots and wasn't really surprised as this was common in the area. He told Castillo he went to the victim and saw Reese was still breathing, although unusually. Someone called 911 while talking to Reese.

Another witness said she heard three shots fired around 9 or 9:30 p.m. and saw Reese fall from the wall. She also said she saw someone standing over Reese and shooting about four more times. She had never seen the shooter before and he then took off. This witness also voluntarily admitted to using methamphetamine that day. The fact that she admitted to drug use gave her credibility, Castillo said. Only she knew she had taken advantage of that day, not even law enforcement knew, the prosecutor said.

Crime scene investigator Kathy Perez of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office explained how and where shell casings were ejected from a semi-automatic weapon. Using photographs, she pointed out that the .40-caliber casings showed the shooter walking toward the victim, consistent with witness statements.

Perhaps the most damning evidence came directly from Bent's own mouth in the form of audio and video recordings created by detectives. Investigators equipped a confidential informant's (CI) car with audio and video equipment. The informant and Bent sat in the car and talked about what Hernandez called “macho talk.”

The informant took the stand and stated that Bent had confessed to him the night after the shooting. The next day the investigative operation was carried out in the car. While on the witness stand, the informant translated street or slang words for the court. Hernandez objected that he was translating English.

The jury would have to take into account that the CI admittedly testified in order to receive a lighter sentence than the 27 years he faced. However, the CI was not promised anything in return for his testimony.

When the video was played, the juror not only heard Bent say the shooting was committed by none other than himself, they also heard him say the gun was missing, he burned his clothes and doused himself with bleach washed. Bent also said he used peppers to throw K-9 dogs off the trail and that he waited for Reese to leave his house for six hours. Law enforcement later said Pepper could slow down a dog but could not completely stop its pursuit.

The jury also saw Bent laugh and smile and say he should have shot him more in the face. They also heard Bent say he went “clicking and hopping,” which the CI said means the shooter pulls the trigger until the empty gun clicks, and that leaving is meant hopping.

Hernandez had also pleaded guilty to other counts that had been excluded from the murder trial. Hernandez told Bent's family member he could put all the cases and rulings behind him to focus on his appeal.