On a recent Wednesday, a Tampa jury convicted Dontae Morris of first-degree murder.<\/p>\n
The verdict, however, was not in connection with his infamous alleged killing of two Tampa police officers. That trial is still to come.<\/p>\n
The Tampa jury deliberated for just under six hours before convicting Morris, 27, of the 2010 killing of Rodney Jones, then 42, at the Cotton Club in Tampa. Jurors also convicted Morris of attempted robbery. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.<\/p>\n
Police said Morris shot Jones in the neck outside the Cotton Club as revenge for Jones previously robbing Morris.<\/p>\n
Three more murder trials await Morris. He may be sentenced to death if found guilty of killing the police officers.<\/p>\n
Those killings created such a stir that in order to find unbiased jurors for this trial who were unaware of Morris’s other charges, Judge William Fuente held jury selection in Orlando and sequestered jurors in a (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On a recent Wednesday, a Tampa jury convicted Dontae Morris of first-degree murder. The verdict, however, was not in connection with his infamous alleged killing of two Tampa police officers. That trial is still to come. The Tampa jury deliberated…<\/span><\/p>\n