Guilty verdicts in Ocala murder trial

After two and a half hours of deliberation, a jury on Thursday decided that a 22-year-old man charged with two counts of first-degree murder was guilty.

As the clerk read the verdict aloud, the victims’ families were emotional.

“We did it. Now he can rest in peace,” said Janey Fockler, whose husband, Andy, and son, Bailey Zylo, were shot and killed by two gunmen the morning of Jan. 29, 2017.

John Zylo said he wanted to thank the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, especially then-Detective Aaron Levy, who is now a sergeant.

The jury began deliberations at 11:47 a.m. and at 2:17 p.m. announced it had reached a verdict. Thirteen minutes later, the clerk read out the verdicts.

Emanuel Angelo Tuggerson, wearing shirt, tie and dress pants, told Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti he did not want to wait for a pre-sentence investigation. Tatti then sentenced Tuggerson to life in prison.

Tuggerson declined to make a comment before sentencing.

“He’s disappointed and is going to appeal,” said Daniel Hernandez, Tuggerson’s lawyer.

Tuggerson supporters have been present, sitting behind him, since the trial began Tuesday at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala. For the verdict, Hernandez was unable to reach the supporters to let them know the jury of nine women and three men had reached a decision. Two women showed up after the verdict was given and were told the news.

On Thursday, minutes after Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman finished his closing arguments, Tuggerson supporters joined hands outside the courtroom and prayed.

At the conclusion, the group returned to the courtroom to listen to Hernandez tell the jury why his 22-year-old client should be found not guilty.

Hernandez told the panel that there’s no forensic evidence linking Tuggerson to the deaths of Zylo, 18, a Lake Weir High senior, and his 38-year-old stepfather.

The lawyer pointed out that a family member identified two other people to detectives who she thought may be responsible for the shooting. That, he said, was enough to establish reasonable doubt.

He said no one was able to identify Tuggerson as one of the men who entered the residence. Also, no DNA or fingerprints linked Tuggerson to the site of the fatal home invasion.

Hernandez said Tuggerson’s grandfather, Reginald Snow, testified earlier this week that he was the one who found a safe that was given to one of the suspects — believed to be Tuggerson. That safe contained two handguns.

The defense lawyer said there’s no evidence on how the safe got to its location, who brought it there and how long it had been at there. Hernandez said the item was discovered in a junkyard that was accessible to anyone.

As for Snow: Before the trial, he told detectives he saw his grandson on a home surveillance video that showed the fatal incident. But during the trial, Hernandez noted, the grandfather gave conflicting statements.

That, he said, was enough to raise reasonable doubt.

Buxman, assistant state attorney, told the jury that Tuggerson was responsible for both deaths and pointed to several clues that prove Tuggerson was one of the triggermen.

Buxman mentioned cellphone records that tracked Tuggerson from Ocala to Weirsdale and, after the shooting, back to Ocala.

Tuggerson, Buxman said, admitted that the number investigators tracked was his and that it was active during the time of the shooting. A pawn shop record, which included Tuggerson’s phone number, backed this up.

The prosecutor played for the jury a video recording of Snow’s jailhouse visit with his grandson. Snow is seen telling Tuggerson he saw his face on the surveillance video trying to shoot one of the occupants as he urged his grandson to tell the truth.

Tuggerson was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and first-degree murder. His co-defendant, 23-year-old Isaiah Ishmael Richard, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Richard’s trial is scheduled for next week.

Deputies arrested the men in connection with the killings, which happened in the victims’ home, 14241 SE 151st Place Road, just off County Road 25 between Weirsdale and East Lake Weir.

Fockler was a supervisor at the Daily Sun, a newspaper in The Villages, and Zylo worked two jobs in addition to going to school, prosecutors said.

The prosecution says Tuggerson and another man entered the home and Tuggerson kicked open a bedroom door. Inside, he demanded cash and opened fire on Fockler, killing him.

Another man is accused of entering Zylo’s room and shooting the teen in the head as he lay in bed.

Tuggerson took a safe that contained two handguns. He and his accomplice then fled through a sliding glass door, the prosecution said.

The trials for Tuggerson and Richard, who is accused of being the getaway driver, are being held separately because Richard made statements implicating Tuggerson, prosecutors said.

Richard and Tuggerson have been held at the jail since their arrests.

Tuggerson did not testify on his own behalf. His lawyer only called one witness: Janey Fockler, wife and mother of the murder victims.

Hernandez asked her if drugs were sold from the home. She said yes. She said the proceeds were kept at the home, and that before deputies arrived to investigate the shootings, drugs were removed from the residence.

On cross-examination Amy Berndt asked the woman how many people purchased drugs from the home. Fockler said five, and they were all people known to them.

She said the drugs were marijuana and Percocet. The amount received was roughly $30 she said.

Buxman told the jury that the killings had nothing to do with drugs; rather, they were about money. He said when Tuggerson barged into the bedroom, he demanded money. The prosecutor said the Fockler home was not a drug house.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb