By Jason Geary
THE LEDGER
Published: Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 10:36 p.m.
BARTOW | Jurors must decide what was going on inside the mind of Monquelle Anderson when he fatally shot his girlfriend and her new lover, prosecutors and defense lawyers said as his trial opened Thursday.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the 20-year-old Lakeland man, saying he planned to kill the couple because of hurt pride and damaged self-esteem.
The defense suggested Anderson was an awkward-in-love youth who did not act with premeditation.
Austin Maslanik, an assistant public defender, said the issue for the jury is what was Anderson's state of mind inside the apartment when the confrontation took place.
Anderson had only been dating 18-year-old Jessica Upton for a few days before the shootings took place March 21, 2008.
During opening statements, Assistant State Attorney Robert Antonello told jurors that Upton and her former roommate, Samantha Bailey, were part of Florida's Independent Living Program, which helps teenagers in foster care transition into adulthood.
They lived at No. 155 at the Willow Glen Place apartment complex on Gilmore Avenue in Lakeland.
Bailey wanted to move out and Upton was looking for a new roommate, said Antonello.
Upton had only been dating Anderson, who worked nearby at an Arby's restaurant, for a few days, and he moved into her apartment, he said.
Anderson discovered after moving some items into the apartment that Upton had begun seeing 29-year-old Aundre Barnes, Antonello said.
Anderson wanted to get his name off the lease and then got into confrontations with Barnes in the following days, he said.
On the evening of March 20, 2008, Anderson purchased two boxes of 12-gauge buckshot at a Wal-Mart store. Detectives recovered the receipt from his grandmother as well as a suicide note that Anderson had prepared.
Anderson told detectives he went to the apartment armed with a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun.
Anderson called Bailey, Upton's friend and former roommate, during the early morning hours of March 21, 2008, and told her he had a gun.
Bailey tried to calm Anderson and then called 911, said Antonello.
But by the time police arrived, Upton and Barnes were dead - each from a gunshot to the head. Barnes was shot in the back of the head while in bed. Upton, who was shot in the face, was on the floor in the living room.
Antonello said Anderson told detectives that he went into the bedroom and saw Barnes and Upton asleep together in bed.
The prosecutor said Anderson shot Barnes first and Upton woke up begging for her life.
Antonello said Anderson responded by saying, "There is no mercy here."
Anderson demanded she get back in bed with Barnes' body, but she refused and went into the living room, he said.
Anderson told detectives Upton came at him and tried to grab the gun.
The prosecutor told jurors the wounds on Upton's body were consistent with the shotgun being leveled at her and fired.
Her left hand was injured as if she were trying to block her face from the blast, Antonello said.
Maslanik, the assistant public defender, told jurors that his client, who was 18 years old at the time of the shooting, was a "very immature" and "emotionally upset" teenager who was "madly in love" with Upton.
He suggested Anderson was duped into signing an apartment lease by Upton so someone would pay half the rent.
Anderson took the gun over to the apartment so he could scare Upton into letting him off the lease.
Anderson was also intimidated by Barnes, who was older and bigger, Maslanik said.
He said Anderson told police he felt hurt at the sight of seeing Barnes in bed with Upton.
After Barnes was shot, Anderson was ready to kill himself, but wanted to make Upton suffer by getting back into bed.
When she refused, the confrontation continued into the living room where she charged at Anderson, said Maslanik.
He told jurors Upton was also armed at the time of the shooting with a large knife, which investigators recovered underneath her body.
Anderson faces two counts of first-degree murder as well as possession of a short-barreled shotgun.
Testimony continues today.
[ Reporter Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]
This story appeared in print on page A1
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