FL v. Ronnie Oneal - Closing Arguments in Double Homicide Case — COURT TV

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Right now, closing arguments are underway in a dramatic and very disturbing case we're following out of Florida. Dramatic because the defendant, Ronnie O'Neill, this man is representing himself in court and disturbing because he's accused of killing his girlfriend and his disabled daughter in front of the couple's son. Let's listen together now to a portion of the state's closing argument from this morning. [00:00:26] Speaker 2: So his son Ronnie Blair, at the time Ronnie O'Neill IV is nearby, even though he doesn't remember that, after he beats Kenyatta Baron to death. And we'll probably talk more about that later. But what that little eight-year-old boy was about to witness was just brutality beyond imagination. As this defendant, Ronnie O'Neill III, went in that house and in front of his son took an ax, a hatchet, and brutally beat his nine-year-old special needs daughter to death with a hatchet. His nine-year-old daughter who couldn't even protest, who couldn't even beg for her life the way her mother had just done, who couldn't even say, "Daddy, no, please stop." She was incapable of even that, of begging for her life. But that didn't stop the defendant. Then after he beat his daughter to death with a hatchet, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire in the master bedroom and close the door. And then he focuses his rage on his son, his eight-year-old son, stabbing him repeatedly in the neck and in the abdomen, attempting to eviscerate him. And then he pours gasoline on him. The jacket that Ronnie O'Neill III was now Ronnie Blair was wearing that night was sent off to the fire lab. And Perry Kousyoff, the lab chemist, told you that that tested positive for the presence of an accelerant. He was in an ambulance being transported to a soccer field so he could be choppered to Tampa General Hospital. He regains consciousness and he tells Lieutenant Veronica Vidi, "My dad shot my mom," or "My dad killed my mom." She wasn't sure which, but she remembered it was one of those two. [00:02:45] Speaker 1: Just heinous crimes the state of Florida is alleging this defendant committed. Joining me now to discuss Heather Lee. She is a reporter with our affiliate WFTS in Tampa, Florida. Heather, thank you so much for joining us. I know you've been in the courtroom today. Walk us through, please, what's happened so far. [00:03:06] Heather Lee: Julie, it has been an explosive day in court. I made it a point to sit in so that I could see the reaction from the jurors as well as other people that are sitting in that courtroom. And it has been very emotional. It has been very uncomfortable. The jurors have really been paying very close attention. To everything the state had to say. And, you know, we talked about this on Friday. We said that O'Neill started his opening statements, you know, a week and a half ago, coming off as very agitated and angry. He was loud. He was screaming at the jurors. And then when we went into trial, he was actually very calm and collected. But as we have seen now in these closing arguments, he is back to that same demeanor where he is angry. In fact, he has been really focusing his attention more so on the state versus the jurors. He's been looking at them a lot. In fact, so much so that the judge had to tell him, you need to focus on talking to the jurors. They are the ones that are going to decide your fate. It's been very, very interesting in there. Wow. And we have a clip of a [00:04:06] Speaker 1: clip of his closing arguments. Let's take a look at that together. Now. [00:04:11] Ronnie O'Neill III: He sat here and told you what my son told you. You guys heard what my son said. And you also heard that I rebutted everything that he said because he said something totally different in the beginning of this case. Everything that he said was contradictory to what he said in the beginning of this case when Detective Thomas Durst interviewed him just seven days after the event. He told you that my son seen me beat his mom. My son sat right there and said, "No, I didn't see you beat my mom." He told you that my son seen me shoot his mom. My son sat right there and told you he did not see me shoot his mom. And I told you that in my opening statement. So my son verified that I was telling you the truth. My son said in trial that I ran back in the house and pulled his sister to his mom's room. But in the interview with Detective Durst page 9 of 23, March 26, 2018, he told Detective Durst that his sister was already in his mom's room before we ran outside. Then he asked him was she hurt and was she hurt before they ran outside? And he said, "Yes, she was hurt before they ran outside." But you ready to believe my son whose statements are conflicting all of a sudden because he's been adopted by a detective who worked in this case? [00:06:13] Speaker 1: Heather, we can see exactly what you mean in that clip, how he's turned his body toward counsel table and yelling at them and yelling at the jury, just the whole courtroom. Really, really something else. While we have you, I want to ask you please about the charges he's facing and then the potential penalties that he would be looking at in the case that he should be convicted. Let's [00:06:36] Heather Lee: So, Julie, it would be two first degree murder charges and then on top of that attempted murder, aggravated child abuse, arson. There are several charges that he is facing and at this point, the state is seeking the death penalty. But as you know, if at least one juror does not agree with that and says that they do not want him to die for these crimes, he will not be put to death. In fact, he would just say that he will not be put to death. [00:07:04] Speaker 1: In fact, he would just get the lesser the lesser charge, right? Right. That is something interesting. I'm glad you reminded us, Heather, in the state of Florida, if somebody says life, it's life. But if he should be convicted, then it is potentially on the table that he could be put to death as the state is pursuing it. Heather Lee, thank you so much for