JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The death penalty trial for 33-year-old Johnathan Quiles resumes Friday in Duval County.
Quiles entered the courtroom for day one of his death penalty case Thursday smiling broadly, a casual manner he’s shown throughout much of the case. Prosecutors painted a much darker picture of Quiles, that of a predatory killer who murdered his niece in cold blood to cover up the fact that he’d impregnated her.
Quiles is charged with murdering 16-year-old Iyana Sawyer and her unborn baby girl in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty. After three days of jury selection, Assistant State Attorney Stacie French opened the case by quoting from an exchange between Quiles and his biological brother, Joseph, as well as statements made on a recorded wire.
The trial is expected to last into the middle of next week.
