Courthouse Escapee Writes Letter To Judge

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- An escaped murder suspect has written a letter to ask for fairness in his ruling.

On July 15 Dayonte Resiles escaped custody from the Broward County courtroom 4810, the legal domain of Judge Raag Singhal.

In an August letter Resiles wrote to Singhal, he explained that he didn’t want the judge to rake it personally. Singhal will now be the judge of not only Resiles’ capital homicide case and all five pending second-degree felony cases, but also the escape case.

According to the Miami Herald, Resiles mostly wrote “for you to please judge me fairly. I don’t want you to be bias towards me because of the escape.”

Despite apologizing for his actions, Resiles’ eight felonies he is charged with along with the escape could result in 15 to 50 years of prison time. It took police five days to fins Resiles after his planned escape.

Per the Miami Herald, Resiles wrote, “When I escaped, my whole reason was to gather enough info on my case to prove my innocence. As you can see, I didn’t commit any crimes, hurt anyone or go far.”

In different parts of his letter, Resiles compliments Singhal as a lawyer and judge and for his fairness towards black inmates. The letter reached Singhal days after George Odom, defense attorney for accused Resiles accomplice Kretron Barnes. Odom filed a motion for Singhal to recuse himself from Barnes’ case as a witness.

Original Story

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- An escaped murder suspect was arrested Wednesday night at a Days Inn in West Palm Beach by Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives.

Dayonte Resiles, 21, escaped from a Broward County courthouse last week. He was awaiting a hearing when he eluded two unarmed bailiffs. He was able to take off his jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles as he fled. Surveillance video showed him running out of the courthouse in a white T-shirt and black shorts.

Resiles is charges in the 2014 death of Jill Halliburton Su, who was found in a bathtub at her Davie home.

Detectives captured Resiles alone in room 149 just before 11 p.m. after receiving a tip that led them to the 45th Street motel.

Sheriff Scott Israel said in a news conference Thursday morning, “He came out of the room. He surrendered without incident.”

“We had a man who was on trial for murder,” said Israel. “The state attorney is seeking the death penalty. It doesn’t get more serious than that, and for him to be back in custody is a sense of relief.”

So far seven people have been arrested in connection with the escape. Inmate Walter Hart is accused of helping Resiles get out of his shackles before his escape.

Resiles’ cousin, Francine Mesadieu, 31, of Fort Lauderdale, and his friend, Paige Jackson, 18, also of Fort Lauderdale, were arrested Wednesday. They are both accused of supplying Resiles with clothing to conceal his identity and spoke with him multiple times before his escape. Detectives believe Jackson set up three-way calls between the three of them to help Resiles plan his escape.

Other arrests include: LaQuay Stern, 18, of Palm Beach; Winston Russell Jr., 22, of Sunrise; and twins Kreton Barnes and TreVon Barnes, 17, of West Palm Beach.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office received multiple fake tips throughout the investigation. A $50,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Resiles’ arrest.

Resiles was returned to the main county jail early Thursday morning.