JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Lawyers for the man accused of killing Kalil McCoy in 2011 were in court Friday, arguing that the confession used in his first conviction be excluded from his retrial.
Frederick Wade was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a 20-year-old former Jackson High School classmate. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, but that conviction was overturned by the 1st District Court of Appeals, which cited faulty jury instructions in his first trial.
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Wade's retrial was scheduled to begin in January, but it was pushed back. No new date has been set for the retrial.
His lawyers told Judge Russell Healey that Wade invoked his right to a lawyer while being questioned by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The defense claimed detectives continued asking him questions and that detectives also used Wade’s aunt as a surrogate to ask more questions.
Healey took the arguments under advisement. The next hearing is May 11.
For most of the past year, prosecutors have worked on a plea deal that would avoid putting the victim's family through a second trial, but Kalil McCoy's mother, Lynnette Roebuck, wanted Wade to serve at least 40 years, and the defense would not agree to any deal with a sentence of more than 15 years.
"If I have to go through another trial, I'm just going to put on my full armor and I'm going to fight, just like I did three years ago," Roebuck said earlier this year.
According to police, Wade and three other friends were with McCoy in Wade’s SUV when an argument erupted. Wade is accused of pulling out a handgun and pointing it in her direction. Wade claimed that in the jostling, the gun discharged, hitting McCoy in the head.
Prosecutors said the four men dumped McCoy's body in a field. The other three in the car pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and were sentenced to prison.
Wade has insisted that the gun went off accidentally.
Roebuck said Wade has never apologized nor shown any remorse.