A South Florida man accused of fatally shooting a realtor he mistakenly thought was his former landlord nearly five years ago is claiming self-defense.
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Raymond Reese, 56, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the December 2021 killing of Sara Trost in Coral Springs.
Police said Trost was waiting outside a home on Northwest 48th Court waiting to meet a potential buyer when she was fatally shot two days before Christmas.
Reese had shown up at the home intent on confronting his old landlord and instead encountered Trost before shooting her twice, killing her, police said.
Reese was in court on Wednesday and took the stand as he seeks to have the case dismissed, claiming it was a justifiable use of force.
During the hearing photos of the scene showed Trost had a gun in her purse at the time she was killed.
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Reese said he thought the woman was his landlord and said she had a gun in her hand.
“So were you in fear?” his attorney asked.
“Absolutely,” Reese responded.
Reese called 911 after the shooting but didn’t mention that he shot in self-defense, authorities said.
“He says ‘my landlord is an evil person,’ he says ‘I shot her,’ he says a lot of things. But never once, through the entirety of the transcript does he ever say this was self-defense, that she had a gun, she pulled a gun,” assistant state attorney Taylor Collins said.
Prosecutors also insist the gun never left Trost’s purse.
The defense claims Reese had a contentious relationship with his former landlord and presented emails showing Reese was owed money, adding that he had gone to the house to resolve issues peacefully.
“He goes to the house really to have an in-person conversation with the owner, Emily and Andy, he testified he didn’t go for any nefarious reason, ill-will, premeditation or anything like that,” defense attorney Gabe Ermine said.
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The judge will take a few days to consider the self-defense claim.