A Miami-Dade man accused of brutally beating his new roommate after meeting her through Craigslist was found guilty Tuesday of attempted murder.
Byron Mitchell, 39, was charged in the February 2016 incident that left Danielle Jones in a coma for several weeks. Attorneys delivered closing arguments earlier Tuesday before jurors began deliberations and quickly returned a guilty verdict.
Jones, who was 23 at the time, found Mitchell through a Craigslist ad for a roommate and he moved into her Miami apartment. But two weeks later on Valentine's Day, Mitchell allegedly choked Jones and then beat her head into the floor.
Mitchell had claimed Jones came at him with a knife and he was defending himself.
Last week, an emotional Jones testified in the trial, saying Mitchell was the first person to respond to the ad, she needed a roommate quickly, and he seemed like a nice guy.
"Rent is almost due, I'm gonna lose my home, gonna get evicted, that'll ruin my life, and he seemed like a nice person," she said.
After the verdict was delivered, Jones’ Mother, Aimee Cabo Nikolov, said her daughter still deals with PTSD and trauma from brain injuries.
"To me justice is not punishing him, it’s getting my daughter back, and that may never be. It’s a lifetime commitment," Nikolov said.
Mitchell faces life in prison at sentencing.
