Jurors recommend death for man convicted of killing Orlando neighbor

Orange County jurors have recommended the death penalty for a 59-year-old man who was convicted of murdering his neighbor.

On Thursday, the State Attorney’s Office announced the jury’s recommendation of death in the murder conviction of DeMorris Andy Hunter. Last week, his trial was held in an Orange County courtroom, and he was found guilty in connection with the 2002 murder of 38-year-old Theresa Ann Green.

Court records show that on May 26, 2002, Hunter and Green both attended a party hosted by a couple in their Orlando apartment building. Hunter and Green reportedly left the party together, and several witnesses saw them “fall down the stairs” prior to entering Green’s apartment.

Hours later, Hunter spoke with one of his neighbors and asked for a favor. He then reportedly gave the neighbor keys to a white van and instructed the neighbor to “follow him” while he drove Green’s car to a parking lot, where it was dropped off. Green then got into the neighbor’s vehicle before leaving the area.

Green was soon reported missing to the Orlando Police Department, and Sanford police officers located her car in the parking lot of a local Walgreens. During an interior search of the vehicle, Green’s deceased body was found inside the trunk.

The Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Green’s death was “a homicide by manual strangulation.”

During an ensuing investigation, detectives confirmed that Green was last seen alive with Hunter. When detectives spoke with Hunter, he was already serving a 110-year prison sentence for an unrelated murder that occurred in Oakland, California.

Following last week’s murder conviction, Green’s son, Ocativius Hayes, released this statement:

“At only 13 years old, I was robbed of my mother’s presence, her support, and her irreplaceable love. While other children were leaning on their mothers for guidance, I was forced to navigate the most formative years of my life in the shadow of her absence. Every milestone I have reached since then has been bittersweet, marked by the hollowed space where she should have been standing. I ask (the Orange County court) to recognize the permanence of this loss, and the exhaustion of a lifetime spent seeking justice.”