Prosecutors in Lake County are rolling up their sleeves and diving into a long list of murder trials this year, including two of the most shocking cases that have surfaced in a long time.

Lawyers on Friday selected a jury for the case of Justin L. Jones, charged with killing a woman and her 17-year-old son with a mini-sledge hammer and repeatedly raping a woman in his RV before she escaped.

Justin Jones (Photo provided by Frank Stanfield)

Jones described Sandra Gaudino, 38, as his “wife” and Ty Finister as his “stepson.” The rape victim is not being identified. Jones reportedly confessed to the crimes.

The attacks took place at Thousand Trails Resort in Clermont in August 2022. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

A case that sent shockwaves through Mount Dora was the slaying of Darryl and Sharon Getman on New Year’s Eve, 2023 in their Waterman Village home.

Victims are usually familiar with their attackers, but when police arrested Vickie Williams in the couple’s car in Savannah, Ga., they learned she was a stranger who had been acting weird in the neighborhood and at a Mount Dora motel where she pretended to be a guest.

Williams is scheduled to go on trial in September for the stabbing deaths but past proceedings have been delayed by rulings that she has been mentally incompetent to stand trial. It could happen again. It, too, is a first-degree murder death penalty case.

Lawyers at the first of the year were looking at a dozen trials. One trial, with two co-defendants, has been postponed, however.

The list does include two resentencing cases in Orange County. Gov. Rick Scott in 2017 ordered the 5^th Circuit state attorney’s office, which includes Lake County, to handle State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s capital cases because of her opposition to the death penalty.

It may not be a record number of homicide trials for one year, but it still a lot. Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio remembers 2022 as a load-and-a-half. Many cases don’t go to trial for two years or more. There were 19 homicides in 2018, a record.

“You go without sleep,” he says.

Capital cases are especially draining for both prosecutors and the defense attorneys. The size of the jury is doubled to 12 with a handful of alternates. Trials are divided into two parts and the penalty phase can include testimony about a defendant’s troubled upbringing, mental health, medical conditions, and basically anything that might be mitigating.

Often, there is highly technical evidence, like DNA.

It took lawyers four days to sift through potential jurors.  “Hundreds,” Assistant Public Defender Morris Carranza noted.

The initial summons went out to 950, according to Deputy Clerk of Court Terry Shafer. After cuts for hardship and other reasons, the list was reduced to more than 180. About 50 made it to the final draft on Friday.

Jury selection for the Jones case, presided over by Circuit Judge James Baxley, was especially tricky. Not only do lawyers have to question the individuals about their feelings about the death penalty, but also whether they have been victims of violent crime, including sexual assault. A few hands went up with that question.

The testimony of the rape victim, the lone survivor, is sure to be heart-wrenching.

Logistics for back-to-back trials is like walking a tightrope. Witnesses have to be lined up and prepared, along with victim advocates, security and courtroom scheduling, the clerk’s office and the jail.

“It’s a team effort,” said Assistant State Attorney Gabriel Lozano, who is in charge of the Lake office and acting as cocounsel on the Jones case.

Prosecutors and public defenders get something of a break in the older cases. They are “front-loaded” by the original investigators and attorneys, he says.

Austin Hill (Eustis Police Department)

Prosecutors in Lake County have already scored a first-degree murder conviction earlier this year against Austin Hill in the 2023 shooting death of 39-year-old Wseni Laguerre in Eustis.

Witnesses said a man who identified himself as “Li’l Jake” walked up to Laguerre in a driveway off Palm Avenue and asked if his name was “Haitian “Black.” When he said yes, Hill reportedly shot him several times.

Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty but a jury recommended life. He was sentenced on Feb. 11.

Upcoming Trails

Kevin Harrison (Leesburg Police Department)

• Kevin Harrison is set to go on trial in May. He charged with first-degree murder in the 2023 shooting death of Lekendre Hall in Leesburg. A witness said he was arguing with Harrison’s sister, Destiny Pendleton, when she called Harrison to come to her house. Harrison and Hall began arguing and Harrison shot him.

  Pendleton was charged with tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact when she tried to run away from police and hid shell casings. She was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Albert Springs (Lake County Sheriff’s Office)

• Albert Springs is scheduled to go on trial on April 27 on a charge of death by unlawful distribution of fentanyl and/or cocaine.

  Sheriff’s deputies were called to Lady Lake in 2022 where they found Harry A. Cooper slumped over a bed with a syringe and packet of a powdery substance nearby. Investigators discovered two cell phones nearby and were able to track Cooper’s movements to a convenience store, then viewed security camera footage to allegedly see  Springs.

Jalynn Davis (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)

• Jalynn Davis is also scheduled to go to trial on a charge of causing death by distribution of fentanyl. Her case is set for May 26. Court records allege that she poisoned a relative in Leesburg, Wesley Brown, who thought he was buying a dose of heroin, according to witnesses.

Dieuseul Charlemon (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)

• Dieuseul Charlemon faces charges of principal to first- and to second-degree degree murder while wearing a mask when he goes to trial on July 27.

  Sheriff’s deputies responding to a call about a shooting on Montclair Road outside of Leesburg in February 2022 found Jimmy Casteel dying of gunshot wounds on the front porch of a home. Inside, they discovered the body of Jamari Jones, allegedly Charlemon’s accomplice.

Joshua Collins (Lake County Sheriff’s Office)

• Joshua Collins is due to go to trial on Oct. 26 on first-degree murder charges. Sheriff’s deputies were called to Daisy Lane in Fruitland Park in 2021 when a homeowner called to say that he found Jeffrey Rhom’s body in a shed he allowed Rhom to live in. Rhom had been stabbed 30 times. The last person known to be with Rhom was the homeowner’s son, Joshua.