The suspect’s defense team admits their client killed the men but argued that it was in self-defense. News4’s Drew Wilder reports.
Jurors began deliberations Thursday in trial of a man accused of trying to break into an ex-girlfriend’s apartment and then going on a rampage, shooting a man and his stepson at a Northern Virginia construction site in July 2022. His defense team admits their client killed the men but argued that it was in self-defense.
Francis Rose, 29, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of 48-year-old Adrian Rivera Guzman and 24-year-old Juan Carlos Amaya Hernandez, who were working at the site near the Assembly Apartments.
On Thursday, both the prosecution and defense rested and then delivered closing arguments. Rose's defense did not end up calling him to the stand.
In previous testimony, witnesses testified they heard a gunshot, but by the time they could see what was happening, one victim had already been shot and the second was struggling to get a gun away from the shooter before also being shot.
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Police say Rose had just committed a burglary nearby before the shooting.
In closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors explained how a mother lost both her partner and her son in the shooting. Prosecutors argued Rose went on a crime spree at the apartment complex, breaking into two homes and then killing the two workers before hiding out in a stranger’s apartment.
The defense argued Rose shot the workers in self-defense, claiming the workers attacked Rose before he shot them.
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Jurors appeared shaken and emotional at times during closing arguments. The jury was set to begin deliberations, although it's likely they will halt Thursday night and and resume Friday.
