Florida youth convicted of Warwickshire man’s murder is set to appeal
A TEENAGER jailed for life for murdering a Warwick tennis coach and his best friend in Florida is appealing against his conviction and sentence.
Shawn Tyson was handed two life sentences last month after he was convicted of shooting dead, on April 16 last year, 25-year-old James Cooper, who was raised in Kenilworth and moved to Hampton Lucy a few years ago, and 24-year-old James Kouzaris, from Northampton.
According to the Herald-Tribune, Tyson’s public defender Carolyn Schlemmer is appealing against the conviction and sentence due to reasons including the racial makeup of the jury, as well as the decision by Judge Rick De Furia to allow evidence that Tyson threatened people with a gun a week before the murders.
The appeal is due to be considered by the Second District Court of Appeal in Florida.