- October 12, 2024
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Circuit Judge Terence Perkins held pretrial hearings for four major cases on April 5.
Defendants Kwentel Moultrie, Stephen Monroe and Terrell Sampson are all awaiting trial on either murder or attempted murder charges, while 17-year-old Brendan Depa has been charged as an adult with aggravated battery on an education employee.
Depa, a Matanzas High School student who attacked a paraprofessional in a widely covered incident in February, was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation on March 3. As of the pretrial hearing on April 5, that evaluation is in progress.
Depa’s lawyer petitioned the court for, and was granted, a continuance until May 10. Depa, who could face up to 30 years in prison, did not appear in court for his pretrial. Perkins said he wanted to avoid delays and keep that case “on a close docket.”
Perkins also held a pretrial for Moultrie, who is awaiting trial for second-degree murder and armed burglary. Moultrie was arrested in February 2022 alongside Taylor Manjarres in connection with a home invasion robbery that led to the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Palm Coast resident Zaire Roberts in December 2021.
Moultrie’s case was also continued an Aug. 1 docket sounding, at which the court will likely set a trial date.
Monroe, who is awaiting trial for a first-degree murder charge; and Sampson, charged with three counts of attempted murder, also had their cases continued on April 5 until June 7 and Aug. 29, respectively.
Monroe and Sampson are two of four people charged in the January 2022 death of 16-year-old Noah Smith and the May 2022 death of 16-year-old Keymarion Hall.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has said the shootings were the culmination of months of violence between two groups, though neither Smith nor Hall were the attackers’ intended targets.
