Murder suspect who escaped proclaims innocence on Facebook

Reporter: Lindsey Sablan
Published: Updated:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A murder suspect who gained national notoriety by dashing from a courtroom and escaping for six days is proclaiming his innocence on a recording posted to Facebook.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/2cIwDN8 ) that 22-year-old Dayonte Resiles said in the recording “I never committed murder a day in my life.” The recording was recently posted on a Facebook page.

Resiles escaped July 15 from the Broward County Courthouse. He says he spent the six days trying to find information that would clear him of the 2014 killing of Jill Halliburton Su, who was found dead in her suburban Fort Lauderdale home. Resiles, who was arrested at a West Palm Beach motel, also cited a possible death sentence for his escape.

Prosecutors say DNA ties Resiles to the killing.

“A lot of people question themselves, well if he is innocent, why would he escape? I’ll be the person to answer it for you,” Resiles said on the recording. “I currently have a daughter which I have not seen or held from birth. Not only that – you tell me if you have been placed in jail for a crime you know nothing about or never committed, would you sit in jail? Let me answer it for you logically. No.”

Resiles has also written a letter of apology to Judge Raag Singhal for escaping and called the Sun Sentinel to proclaim his innocence.

His attorney, H. Dohn Williams, said he wishes Resiles would stop making public comments.

“My preference would be that he did not write or communicate with anyone about his case,” Williams told the paper Friday. “You never know how somebody’s going to twist what you say.”

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