JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After five long days in court, the double murder trial over the 2022 killing of 13-year-old Prince Holland appears to be nearing an end.

Judge Jeb Branham told the courtroom this afternoon he’s “confident we’ll finish tomorrow,” though proceedings ran later than expected, starting an hour late and expected to continue into the evening.

Two defendants, Marcel Johnson and Kentravious Garrard, are being tried simultaneously before two separate juries inside the Duval County Courthouse. Both men face charges in connection with Holland’s death, which shocked the Jacksonville community when the teenager was shot and killed while leaving football practice days before Christmas 2022.

Garrard’s defense attorney spent nearly two hours questioning the lead investigator, Sgt. T.C. Mitlyng, pressing him on what they described as gaps in the state’s investigation, including missing interviews, unexecuted search warrants and phone data that was never obtained for some key characters in the case.

Stephanie Nicole Jamieson, Garard’s defense attorney, also confirmed with Mitlyng there was “no evidence to suggest Garrard was involved in a single incident” they went over during testimony, and the lead investigator’s response was, “No, ma’am.”

After Garrard’s defense rested, prosecutors called for the jury to be excused before continuing their rebuttal. 

The state requested permission to present testimony that Johnson told investigators he was driving the car involved in the shooting, but Judge Branham rejected that citing the court’s earlier decision to keep each defendant’s statements separate.

“I am not allowing you to put before Mr. Garrard’s jury Mr. Johnson’s statement,” said Branham. “That’s the whole reason we did this structure, and we aren’t changing that at this time.”

Branham later allowed the state to clarify a limited portion of that exchange to “allow for the scope of an appropriate response.” 

Sgt. Mitlyng then testified that Johnson admitted to driving the blue Kia that fired shots into a red Mercedes carrying five victims and that Garrard was the one shooting.

Following that testimony, the court played a one-hour and thirteen-minute video of Johnson’s police interview.

Garrard’s defense maintains that no hard evidence connects him directly to the crime. Johnson’s team argues he was not the shooter, saying he only drove the car and panicked after gunfire erupted.

Both juries are still reviewing evidence, with testimony expected to continue late into the evening, potentially could wrap up jury deliberations with a verdict on Wednesday.