PENSACOLA, Fla. — Six men and a 16-year-old boy charged as an adult pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder Thursday in the slaying of a Panhandle couple who adopted 13 children, many with special needs.
The six adults could face the death penalty if convicted in the July 9 robbery and shooting deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings at the couple’s home west of Pensacola. The teenager could face life in prison.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Williams set a Nov. 9 trial for the men and an Oct. 21 trial for the teenager, but State Attorney Bill Eddins said the trials probably won’t start for as long as a year.
Eddins said the investigation into the complicated case is ongoing. He has not announced whether he will seek the death penalty against any of the defendants, but the charges returned by a grand jury this week allow for that possibility.
Arraigned on two counts of first-degree murder and a single count of home invasion were Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35; Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., 56; Wayne Coldiron, 41; Donnie Ray Stallworth, 28; Gary Lamont Sumner Jr., 30; Frederick Lee Thornton Jr., 19; and Rakeem Florence, 16.
Taken from the Billings’ home was a safe that investigators have said contained the children’s medications, family documents and jewelry of sentimental value to the family. Family attorney Robert Beasley this week said a second safe left at the home contained $164,000 in cash and might have been the intended target.
