Sean Taylor Murder Trial Gets New Date

A new date has been set for the Sean Taylor murder trial, according to Yahoo Sports. Taylor, who was a safety for the Washington Redskins, was shot to death in his Miami home five years ago.

The trial was delayed after one of the five defendants, Eric Rivera, Jr, fired his attorney a month before the trial was supposed to begin. Rivera, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was originally given a trial date of April 16. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy has set Rivera’s new trial date for November 5.

The defendants, who are accused of killing Taylor during a robbery at his home in 2007, are being tried separately and face a life sentence if convicted. Four of the defendants — Timmy Lee Brown, Jason Scott Mitchell, Charles Wardlow, and Rivera — have pleaded not guilty. The fifth defendant, Venjah Hunte, pleaded guilty to murder and burglary and accepted a 29-year deal; however, in 2009, he petitioned to have his guilty plea withdrawn.

Rivera shot Taylor in the leg during a botched robbery on November 26, 2007. Taylor’s longtime girlfriend Jackie Garcia and the couple’s then 18-month old daughter hid under a bed during the crime, and Garcia later called 911 from her cell phone.

Rivera, Hunte, Wardlow and Mitchell were arrested on November 30 in connection to the murder; Brown was not arrested until May 2008.

Taylor was posthumously inducted into Washington Redskins Ring of Fame on November 30, 2008.

The Sean Taylor murder trial was originally scheduled for April 7, 2008, but was postponed multiple times for various reasons.