Man accused of killing fiancée takes stand in his own murder trial

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A man on trial for the 2014 murder of his fiancée took the stand on Thursday.  Detectives said John DeJesus, 29, killed Yoliz Borrero last year in front of her two young children during the early morning hours of April 30.  He is charged with first-degree murder. 

DeJesus testified that three masked men came knocking on their door in the middle of the night, then forced their way inside, looking for cocaine and cash.  "He said, 'I'm telling you now, this ain't no game! I'm telling you ...' and while he was still talking and he was looking at me and talking, which is the opposite direction from where she [Borrero] was, the gun went off," DeJesus explained. 

DeJesus told the jury that the man wearing red Nike’s fired the fatal shot and threatened to kill him too before he unlocked a safe containing drugs and cash.  The assistant state attorney told DeJesus his story didn’t add up. “So you say they come after you because you sold them bad drugs, but they came to rob you for drugs?” questioned the assistant state attorney. 

Investigators said the incident was not reported to 911 until nearly two hours after the shooting.  Prosecutors have claimed there are inconsistencies in DeJesus' claims.   The have cited a neighbor's home-security camera, which allegedly captured DeJesus running to a nearby retention pond from the house shortly after Borrero's death.  DeJesus has said that he did not have a phone and had to run to a neighbor's house to call 911. 

Prosecutors said DeJesus lied, claiming he didn’t have a phone, and he wasted time running to a neighbor's to get help, when in fact, he did have a cell phone, but he just wouldn’t use it.  “It was more important to you to not incriminate yourself as a drug dealer than to figure out who killed your wife?” asked the assistant state attorney.

DeJesus stuck to his story when his defense attorney got a chance to re-question him on the witness stand.  “Mr. DeJesus, did you kill your fiancé?”asked the lawyer.  “No,” DeJesus replied. 

The trial will be back in session at 8:30 Friday morning when closing arguments begin.