Jury Selected In Billings Murder Trial

4:00 p.m.
A jury has been selected for the trial of Patrick Leonard Gonzalez, Jr., the first of seven men accused of killing Byrd and Melanie Billing.

A judge swore in the 12 person jury and one alternate late Monday after interviewing 84 potential jurors at the Escambia County courthouse in Pensacola.

Eleven woman and two men were selected to serve during the trial.

Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.

Gonzalez, 36, could get the death penalty of convicted of organizing the home invasion, robbery and murders.

10:00 a.m.
Jury selection is underway in the trial of Patrick Gonzalez Jr., the first of seven men accused of killing Byrd and Melanie Billing.

The Billings, a couple well known for adopting special needs children, were shot to death in their home on July 9, 2009. Nine of their children were in the house during the home invasion, but none of them were hurt.

One hundred potential jurors were summoned to the Escambia County courthouse in Pensacola on Monday morning. Attorneys are asking the potential jurors about their knowledge of the case, defendant, victims and witnesses.

Investigators have described Gonzalez Jr., 36, as the mastermind of the killings. In the weeks following the murder, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan often said he believed robbery was the motive, but nearly 800 pages of interviews and other discovery documents suggest the murder may have been a contract killing with ties to with MS-13, a violent gang with roots in Central America.

Prosecutors have said they plan to call 40 witnesses during the trial. Melanie Billing's adult daughter, Ashley Markham, is expected to be the first person to take the stand when testimony begins. The defendant's wife, Tabitha Gonzalez, is also on the witness list, as well as two other defendants Frederick Thornton, 20, and Rakeem Florence, who was 16 at the time of the murder. Thornton and Florence have already pleaded guilty to second degree murder.

Florida State Attorney Bill Eddins is seeking the death penalty against Gonzalez Jr, and two other suspects, Wayne Coldiron, 42, and Donnie Stallworth, 29.

Two other men, Gary Sumner, 31, and Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Sr., 57, are also charged with murder.

An eighth suspect, Pamela Long Wiggins, is charged as an accessory after the crime.