TAMPA, Fla. — With a full jury set and ready, opening statements started Monday in the Nahshon Shannon trial.
"This is Janessa Shannon, aka Nessa. In July 2017, she was just shy of her 14th birthday. Sadly, she didn't make it, and sadly, this is not how her body looked when she was found," said State Attorney Jessica O’Connor.
The man on trial for Janeesa's murder—her father, Nahshon.
In opening statements, prosecutors said Nahshon beat and killed his daughter. They said he was angry over Janessa sneaking out at night.
"This is textbook marks of manual strangulation with a hand. You're also going to hear how [the medical examiner] observed marks on her arms. Ultimately, his ruling is this was a homicide due to blunt force trauma," O'Connor added.
Other evidence includes a screw found at the crime scene matching a shovel found at Nahshon's home. The defense said they want to present an expert explaining how soil samples unique only to where Janessa's body was found were also found at Nahshon's home and in his car.
"The puzzle pieces, once you put all of those pieces together, the evidence will be clear to you. The evidence will be clear to the point of which the state is confident you will find the defendant guilty," she added.
In a normal trial, both sides present their case before the jury. But in this trial, the defense declined to present their opening statements.
The state called its first witness, Janessa's mother, Michelle Mosley.
In July of 2017, Janessa lived with her father in Riverview, visiting with her mother in Bradenton on the weekends.
Mosley testified she asked Nahshon to pick Janessa up early following a trip to the beach because Janessa had snuck out the night before to spend the night with a neighborhood boy.
"Ms. Mosley, after Janessa got in the Jeep Cherokee and drove off with Mr. Shannon, did you see her again?" O'Connor asked.
"No," Mosley replied.
Nearly two weeks later, Janessa's body was found at Triple Creek Nature Preserve, roughly a 13-minute drive from Nahshon's house.
We talked to the hiker who came across her body at the time.
On Monday, Irina Florianovich retold the story again, this time to a jury.
"It definitely didn't look like (an) animal or anything like that. Definitely human remains," she testified.
In the next two weeks, this trial will determine Nahshon's future.
