Henry Segura, 41, stands trial again in Leon County, Florida for allegedly killing his girlfriend Brandi Peters, 27, and her three children. He murdered them because he owed over $20,000 in child support payments, prosecutors said. This is the second go-around for Segura. The first ended in a mistrial after jurors were deadlocked.
He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Peters, their 3-year-old son JaVante Segura, and her twin 6-year-old daughters who were not his, Tamiyah and Taniyah Peters. Four men and two women comprise the jury. The two alternates are a man and a woman.
The defendant testified at his first trial. He admitted to cheating on his then-wife with three women in Tallahassee, including Peters. Segura said he called her on Nov. 19, 2010, the day she died. He testified to coming to Peters’ home at about 2 p.m., left because she wasn’t there, returned at about 5 p.m., had sex with her, and left by 8 p.m.
Possible alternate suspects complicate this case. The defense said that a partial DNA sample from Colombian drug cartel member Angel Avila-Quinones was found on the victim’s bedroom phone. The thing is, prosecutors maintained he left the country in 2009, before the murders.
Prison inmate and gang member James Carlos Santos also allegedly confessed that he had Peters and her kids murdered because she was skimming cash from cartel operations. He pleaded the Fifth Amendment at Segura’s first trial, however.
Another man, police informant Gregory Washington, also claimed that a man named DeMario Paramore confessed to committing the murders with Heywood Griffin. Griffin denied the allegation. Prosecutors dismissed the confession story.
Aaron Keller contributed to this report.
