DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly three decades after the dismembered body of Fred Laster was found behind a dumpster in Lake City, the state of Florida is bringing Ronnie Hyde to trial.
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Hyde is accused of murdering Laster, a teen from the area, in 1994, and has been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder.
Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole spent the day at the Duval County Courthouse, where the legal team representing the State of Florida, the defense and Judge Tatiana Salvador spent the day carefully working to find the right people for a fair and impartial jury.
After just over seven hours of prospective jurors being questioned, 12 jurors and two alternates were ultimately selected to serve for the Ronnie Hyde trial.
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The first cut of jurors happened Monday afternoon following the lunch break. Six jurors were dismissed for prior exposure to the case (i.e., reading about it in the newspaper, watching it on the news, or word of mouth gossip/speculation about the case), and five others were dismissed due to the hardship that would be caused if they had to serve on the jury.
By 2:00 p.m., Judge Salvador had to call in seven back-up jurors to be questioned; the remaining 45 jurors were questioned until about 5:15 p.m.
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Action News Jax has been following the case over several years. Here’s a review of how we ended up here.
According to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant :
-The “dismembered human torso” of 16-year-old Fred Laster was found in a dumpster behind a BP service station in Columbia County on June 5, 1994.
-In May 2016, investigators were able to match Hyde’s DNA to the DNA, found on a shirt recovered from the dumpster.
-Ronnie Hyde was arrested in 2017
-In the arrest warrant, it says Hyde was a youth pastor at Strength for Living Church in Jacksonville, Florida.
-He was also described as a friend of the family by one of Laster’s sisters.
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Hyde is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of Laster.
The state of Florida is not seeking the death penalty.
Judge Salvador said court will continue on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. The trial is expected to wrap up on Friday.
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