'Ice cream man murder case': Michael Keetley set to go to trial again for 2010 double murder
TAMPA, Fla. - Jury selection begins Monday in the retrial of a former ice cream man charged with double murder.
Michael Keetley has continued to maintain his innocence after being accused of going on a deadly shooting spree on Thanksgiving Day 2010. But, prosecutors say he was out for revenge when he mistakenly shot the wrong men.
It took almost ten years for the case to go to court the first time and after a mistrial was declared, Keetley’s new team and judge are bracing to go at it all over again.
Michael is getting ready to go to trial again for two murders in 2010.
During the first trial, the evidence against Keetley was circumstantial and based on witness recollections.
Prosecutors argued that Keetley, who was known for driving his purple ice cream truck through neighborhoods in Southern Hillsborough County, had taken on a vigilante role after he was shot and beaten during a robbery in 2010.
The Thanksgiving Day shooting left two dead and injured four.
On Thanksgiving morning that year, prosecutors alleged Keetley sought revenge and targeted the wrong people when he approached a group of six men playing cards outside a Ruskin home and opened fire.
Four were injured, and two brothers, Sergio, and Juan Guitron were killed.
Two brothers were shot and killed on Thanksgiving 2010.
Yet, court records showed that not everyone who saw what happened identified Keetley, who was 39 at the time, as the shooter.
PREVIOUS: Ice cream man accused of murder goes on hunger strike, demands fruit
In 2020, he was taken to court to face the four attempted murder and double murder charges, but in the end, the jury was not unanimous, and a mistrial was declared.
Prosecutors say Keetley was out for revenge when he shot up the home.
After losing his longtime defense attorney, Keetley will head to trial with a new team led by Tampa attorney Rick Escobar.
Over the last few weeks, Escobar has challenged some of the evidence and key witnesses that the prosecution is trying to use.
PREVIOUS: Victim testifies as ice cream man murder trial continues in Tampa
One of the surviving men from the shooting, who testified in the first trial, is now nowhere to be found and could be living in Texas, so they're planning on using his testimony from last time.
The defense was also critical of the lead detective’s investigation in this case, claiming other leads for suspects were never pursued.
PREVIOUS: At trial, witness to murders recalls suspect's approach
Over the years, Keetley’s family has poured their entire savings into this legal process, while the mother of the two brothers killed has waited for justice.
This jury process will likely take all week and the trial could go until the end of March.
If found guilty, Keetely faces life in prison.