Vero Beach — A 20-member grand jury of 13 women and seven men, after less than one minute of deliberations, returned an indictment against 31-year-old Michael David Jones for the first degree murder of 26-year-old Diana Duve.
Witnesses testified throughout the morning with the final person to appear being Brevard County Medical Examiner Sajid Qaiser who testified after the lunch break for approximately 30 minutes.
Qaiser performed the autopsy on Duve’s body after she was found in the trunk of her car in a Melbourne parking lot on June 23.
Next, Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl instructed jurors on the law for roughly 30 minutes exiting the court room at 2:12 p.m. to leave the jury to deliberate.
Almost immediately attorneys were notified that the deliberation had concluded.
The indictment, which was read in open court after the closed proceedings, will now allow State Attorney Bruce Colton’s prosecutor’s to pursue the death penalty if Jones is convicted.
Jones is currently being held at the Indian River County Jail where Judge Robert Pegg ordered that the defendant will remain without bond..
Duve’s mother, Lena Andrews, and her stepfather, Bill Andrews, gathered after the lunch break with family and close friends and entered the courtroom to hear the reading of the indictment.
They embraced as they heard the news and several members of the family could be heard weeping.
Vero Beach Police Detectives Brad Kmetz and Matt Harrelson who investigated the case were also on hand to hear the indictment.
