Motions heard in Zombiecon shooting case, trial set to begin Monday

The man accused of murdering Expavious Tyrell Taylor, 20, of Okeechobee, at Zombicon in downtown Fort Myers four years ago was in court Wednesday.

A judge heard a series of motions in the case.

Police say Jose Bonilla shot and killed Taylor and injured five others in 2015.

Bonilla stormed out of court last month after telling the judge he’s ready for his trial to begin.

Accused Zombicon shooter, Jose Bonilla, is back in court this morning with a smile. Going through pretrial motions. Bonilla’s trial is set to start on Monday. @winknews pic.twitter.com/zMPbmN7s4X

— Brooke Shafer (@BrookeShaferTV) January 8, 2020

Just days before the trial is supposed to start, the defense called for a key piece of evidence to be thrown out.

His attorney, Michael Mummert, argued that Bonilla didn’t have a choice to speak with detectives when they visited him in the Collier County Jail since he was there on a different charge.

“If he indicates he doesn’t want to speak with you, the conversation ends there,” Mummert said to the FBI agent on the stand, James Roncinske. His answer: “Not necessarily.”

Roncinske said initially Bonilla didn’t want to talk but then asked a question. Bonilla spoke up in court saying, “I didn’t ask you no questions.”

Mummert argued that Bonilla’s right to remain silent was not honored by detectives.

The judge reserved ruling on the defense’s motion to suppress.

The trial is set to begin Monday at 8:45 a.m.

State and defense agree it will take about five days once we have a jury.

The judge fears the difficulty to seat a jury will not be due to the publicity of the event, but rather the length of the trial.