Bryan Pata, a defensive lineman for the Miami Hurricanes who was majoring in criminology, was killed after practice on Nov. 7, 2006, in Kendall. He was a 22-year-old NFL prospect.
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Miami Central High School graduate of Haitian descent who grew up in Miami’s Little Haiti was buried in the custom beige suit he had planned to wear for the 2007 NFL draft.
Nearly two decades later, Assistant State Attorney Kristen Rodriguez told jurors on Wednesday that Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office detectives identified Pata’s then teammate, Rashaun Jones, as the killer.
“Each person will provide a piece of evidence that in the end points only to one person,” Rodriguez said before pointing to Jones, 40, who was in the courtroom.
The U.S. Marshals fugitive task force and M-DSO deputies arrested Jones on Aug. 19, 2021, in Ocala, a few days after a judge issued an arrest warrant for second-degree murder.
“Jones’s actions paved the path through his behaviors, his timings, his communications, his actions, and it is the context of those combined circumstances that will allow you members of the jury, at the conclusion of the state’s case, to find the defendant guilty,” Rodriguez said during her opening statement.
Sara Alvarez, the defense attorney representing Jones, who is standing trial, said M-DSO detectives were wrong for accusing Jones of shooting Pata in the head in a parking lot in Kendall.
“We are here today because of pressure, not because of proof, and the simple truth is that Rashaun Jones is innocent,” Alvarez said during her opening statement. “Now, the state just got up here and told you that they were going to prove this to you … beyond all reasonable doubt … but they won’t because they can’t.”
During pre-trial hearings, Canes teammates who knew both players testified Jones and Pata had been involved in fights, and Jones had threatened to shoot Pata. The warrant for Jones’s arrest cited “ongoing issues” between the teammates before the fatal shooting.
Although Jones could get up to life in prison if convicted, he rejected plea deal offers, maintaining that he is innocent.
“Deep down in my heart, I know I am innocent. If that means I have to go to trial to prove my innocence, I would be willing to go there. Dismissal would be the only thing I am willing to accept,” Jones told Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Cristina Miranda during a pre-trial hearing on Feb. 2.
Records show Jada Brody called 911 to report that she had found Pata, her boyfriend, unresponsive near his parked black Infiniti QX56, and fire rescue personnel pronounced him dead shortly after 7:05 p.m., on Nov. 7, 2006, at The Colony Apartments at 9355 SW 77 Ave.
Records show Pata had his wallet with $900 in cash in his pocket. Jones later told detectives that he was upset that day after learning that the team had suspended him over the results of a drug test, according to records.
On Tuesday, Jones’s defense attorneys said they had received evidence on Friday that pointed to a Haitian gang’s hitman. The prosecution said it was hearsay evidence.
“It includes specific language discussing what this confession said, where he said, ‘I just killed that kid from the University of Miami,’” Attorney Christian Maroni said in court on Tuesday.
After the deposition of a federal agent, Miranda sided with the prosecution and ruled it was triple-hearsay, a statement that was repeated through three sources before reaching the witness.
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