JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — READ UPDATE HERE: Johnathan Quiles found guilty of raping, murdering his niece and her unborn child
A Jacksonville man accused of raping and killing his pregnant niece will not testify at his death penalty trial.
Closing arguments are underway Thursday afternoon and a jury could begin deliberating to determine the fate of Johnathan Quiles later Thursday. Prosecutors believe Quiles murdered his 16-year-old niece, Iyana Sawyer, to hide the fact that he got her pregnant.
The defense called only three witnesses to testify. The defense first called a woman who says she saw a girl walking on Philips Highway the day after Christmas in 2018, who she believes was Sawyer. She did not know Sawyer, who disappeared on Dec. 18 of that year. Under cross-examination, she conceded she saw the girl for about five seconds while driving.
The defense also called Kamar Humphrey, a man who had sex with Sawyer when he was 20-years-old and is now a registered sex offender. Sawyer was 16-years-old when she walked out of Terry Parker High School and was never seen again.
Humphrey was out of town when Sawyer disappeared, but on the stand in the courtroom, he admitted he was dishonest when he initially provided those dates.
"I lied about the dates to you when we had our deposition and I came forth and told the truth afterwards," Humphrey said.
"You also lied about whether or not you even had a sexual relationship with I.S. [Iyana Sawyer] during that same disposition, correct?" Quiles's defense attorney responded and asked Humphrey.
"Yes, because I felt like you were attacking me and trying to incriminate me at the time, yes ma'am," Humphrey said.
Thursday morning, Quiles's attorneys pushed for the murder charges to be dropped. They argued prosecutors cannot prove Sawyer and her unborn child were murdered because her body was never found. The judge refused that request.
