FORT MYERS, Fla. Jury selection in the trial for a 17-year-old girl accused of killing a Buckingham man began Tuesday morning.
Lavaya May, one of three people accused, is a facing second-degree murder charge in the July 2016 death of 58-year-old Ted Lee, whose body was found outside a church in Manatee County.
A judge ruled Monday that a journal found in May’s jail cell after she was apprehended in Kansas could not be admitted as evidence. Prosecutors have filed a motion appealing the ruling, and they say they’re not prepared for trial to begin without it.
Prosecutors are seeking to push back the start of the trial.
The journal contains confessions from May, prosecutors say. The defense asserts the journal was private, and was searched illegally.
Hunter Michael Tyson, 24, of North Fort Myers, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Jonathan Raymond Ruffini, 19, of Fort Myers, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He has yet to receive a sentenced yet.