TAMPA, Fla. - A judge declared a mistrial in the ice cream man murder trial on Friday.
The jury deliberated for a day and a half and couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. Michael Keetley was facing two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder in the shooting spree that left two brothers dead and four others severely injured on Thanksgiving Day 2010.
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Mistrial declared in Keetley case
Gloria Gomez reports
Prosecutors said Keetley, known in the neighborhood as “Mike the ice cream man” was out for revenge after he was a victim himself of a robbery and shooting in his ice cream truck ten months earlier.
But the defense said the surviving victims early on were not able to identify Keetley from a police photo pack and pointed the finger at the wrong man.
After a judge declared a mistrial, prosecutors indicated they will retry the case. A new trial date has been set for June.