JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man convicted once of shooting and killing Kalil McCoy in 2011 wants his confession to the crime to be thrown out before his retrial.
Frederick Wade was found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 20-year-old former Jackson High School classmate. He was sentenced to 25 years to life, but that conviction was overturned by the 1st District Court of Appeals, which cited faulty jury instructions in his first trial. This week, News4Jax found out he will be retried in May.
His attorneys say the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office didn’t follow the rules when they were looking into Wade’s involvement in the shooting.
In a two hour motion hearing Friday morning, Wade’s attorneys argued Wade declared his right to a lawyer while being questioned by JSO following the 2011 shooting. They claim detectives kept asking him questions.
Wade’s attorney says his aunt was also used by police to get more information from Wade about what happened on the night McCoy was killed.
"She continues to tell him, you've got to tell him the truth, you've got to tell it, this is in front of the detectives now," Wade's attorney said.
His attorney goes on to say that detectives used tactics to get him to talk and failed to remind him of his Miranda rights.
"Mr. Wade says listen, listen to this, I told you everything I know, if y'all don't believe me, then there is an interruption and they keep talking and I would argue that's an attempt to invoke," Wade's attorney said.
But the prosecution argues Wade’s aunt was not acting on law enforcement’s behalf when she questioned him.
"They didn't ask her to go back in there, they didn't tell her to go back in there, she was the one who wanted to do it, and she believed she was helping him," the prosecutor said in court.
It’s been nearly five years since McCoy’s death. According to police, Wade and three friends were with McCoy in Wade's SUV when there was an argument. Wade was accused of pulling out a handgun and pointing it in her direction. Wade claimed that as he was pulling the gun out, it discharged, hitting McCoy in the head.
Prosecutors said the four men dumped her body in a field. The other three in the car pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and were sentenced to prison.
Wade’s next hearing is May 11. It would be then when we find out if the judge agrees with Wade’s attorney and throws out that confession.