Three of the four young men arrested in the murder of Sean
Taylor, a star player with the National Football League's
Washington Redskins, were ordered held without bond on murder
charges on Saturday, a defense lawyer said.
Venjah Hunte, 20, Eric Rivera, 17, and Charles Wardlow, 18, made
their preliminary appearances in a state court in Fort Myers on
Florida's Gulf coast.
"They are charged with first-degree felony murder, home invasion
and burglary," said lawyer John E. Evans III, who represents
Wardlow.
Evans said he expected his client would be transported back to
the Miami area, where Taylor was shot on Monday, within the next
two days.
The fourth man arrested in the murder, Jason Scott Mitchell, 19,
will face the same counts but did not appear in court on Saturday,
the Miami Herald reported.
Taylor, 24, was shot in the groin. He died the next day in the
hospital after losing massive amounts of blood.
Miami-Dade Police arrested the suspects on Friday in the Fort
Myers area, about 150 miles northwest of Miami. They said the men
intended to burglarize Taylor's home and had not expected to find
anyone there.
Evans said three of the suspects had given statements to police,
which "appear to describe a situation where they were going to take
physical items from his home and had no idea Mr. Taylor was at
home."
(AFP via China Daily December 3, 2007)