Teens appear before judge in Trindade death case
WINTER PARK, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Orange County Juvenile Court proceedings revealed new details Thursday about the events that led to the beating death of 15-year-old Roger Trindade, of Winter Park, nearly two months ago.
Simeon Hall, 15, and Jagger Gouda, 14, both of Winter Park, appeared before a judge Thursday afternoon.
Winter Park Police announced Wednesday that they had been arrested, along with Jesse Sutherland, 15, who was apprehended by authorities in Virginia. Hall and Sutherland are facing charges of manslaughter and battery in the death of Trindade. Gouda faces a charge of tampering with a witness.
Court proceedings revealed that Gouda is accused of threatening a Maitland Middle School student who found out what happened saying, "If you tell anyone, you're going to pay for this."
"It' appears that Mr. Gouda is the one that initiated the entire set of events that ended up in the death of a 15-year-old young man," said state's attorney Teri Mills-Uvalle.
According to the state, Gouda told another teen to douse Trindade and another kid with skunk spray at Winter Park's Central Park.
"He then is the one that called a friend and caused a group of kids to then come over to where these two victims were. They surrounded them in a group mentality, based on the affidavit, and then they attacked both of these two juveniles," Mills-Uvalle said.
Hall is accused of throwing the first punch.
Trindade was found unconscious just a block off of tony Park Avenue on Oct. 15. Authorities were unable to determine the cause of death but said the Trindade's body showed some signs of physical trauma. He had been declared brain dead and his family chose to remove him from life support two days later.
An autopsy revealed that Trindade death was a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma. A police spokesperson said investigators had known who was involved in the fight but were waiting for the medical examiner to confirm the cause of death before making an arrest.