![\"State](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7ayba108wx1ooqpt.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
ORLANDO, Fla. – Prosecutors rested their case Friday in the murder trial of Jaylen Edgar, the teenager accused of killing two people and wounding seven others during a mass shooting in downtown Orlando on Halloween<\/a> nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n Edgar faces two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder.<\/p>\n Jurors hear Edgar’s interview with detectives <\/p>\n New Details:<\/p>\n On the second day of testimony, prosecutors played a recorded interview showing Edgar speaking with detectives shortly after his arrest.<\/p>\n Detectives showed Edgar a photograph of the downtown crowds and asked him to identify himself.<\/p>\n “I’m right there with the yellow on,” Edgar said.<\/p>\n During the interview, detectives also asked Edgar about the deaths of people close to him and other experiences in his life.<\/p>\n “I just really did a clap for myself. Nobody really knew deep down inside what I’ve been through 100%,” Edgar said. “To the point where I’m at, I don’t know how, I’m still really singing and smiling.”<\/p>\n At another point in the interview, Edgar said, “I’m young still!”<\/p>\n Edgar was 17 at the time of the shooting and is being tried as an adult.<\/p>\n Shooting victims testify <\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n Jurors also heard from people who said they were shot during the attack.<\/p>\n Gabriella Santiago Sanchez testified that a bullet struck her shoulder and traveled toward her jaw.<\/p>\n “I was shot in the shoulder. The bullet traveled towards my jaw, and it got stuck there,” she said.<\/p>\n Sanchez described hearing gunfire moments before she was wounded.<\/p>\n “Heard the first shot, I took a step forward to run, and then the second one I blinked, and I was laying on the ground,” she testified.<\/p>\n Another victim, Eitan Meiler, described being struck in the leg.<\/p>\n “I felt something hitting my shin. And then me and my three friends, we just all went down to the floor,” Meiler said.<\/p>\n Attorneys clash over premeditation <\/p>\n The other side:<\/p>\n After the state rested, attorneys argued over whether the shootings constituted premeditated murder.<\/p>\n The defense accepted the prosecution’s theory of premeditation regarding the first alleged shooting but disputed that it applied to the eight shootings that followed.<\/p>\n Prosecutors argued that Edgar’s actions demonstrated premeditation because he arrived in downtown Orlando armed with a gun and, according to the state’s theory, intended to shoot as many people as possible.<\/p>\n Defense begins its case Monday <\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n The trial is scheduled to resume Monday, when Edgar’s attorneys are expected to begin presenting their case.<\/p>\n It remains unclear what defense strategy they plan to pursue.<\/p>\n The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Orlando Police Department, proceedings in the Ninth Circuit Court on Aug. 21, 2026, and previous reporting by FOX 35 News.<\/p>\n Downtown Orlando Halloween Shooting: News & Updates<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Orlando News<\/a>Orange County News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. – Prosecutors rested their case Friday in the murder trial of Jaylen Edgar, the teenager accused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[630,47,115,1335,139,55727,141,140,628],"class_list":["post-378155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-halloween-shooting","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}