Brett Murphy

brett.murphy@naplesnews.com; 239-213-6042

A Fort Myers man convicted of shooting and then burning a transgender woman before dumping her body behind a dumpster will wait at least another week for his sentencing and possibly a new trial.



Terry Brady’s attorney Robert Harris successfully lobbied Circuit Judge Frank Porter for another week to gather evidence he thinks may be grounds to dismiss the previous guilty verdict.



Last month, a jury convicted Brady, 47, on a second-degree murder charge for the June 2014 slaying of Yaz'min Schancez, 31.

Fort Myers man faces life in killing of transgender woman





Harris said after Monday’s hearing that he’s investigating a “possible juror issue that may have tainted the outcome” of the original trial. He declined to elaborate.





Prosecutors used DNA evidence and video surveillance to show how Brady carried out the murder. The case was not designated a hate crime, but investigators noted that two people told them they believed Brady had a sexual relationship with Schancez.



Schancez’s mother, Linda Owens, offered a sobering testimony Monday, as well, pleading for a harsh judgment. Brady, in red prison clothes, sat on the other side of the room, slouched back in his chair with his head turned toward Owens.



“You took a smile from this Earth,” she told him, sobbing at times. “You’ll be just a number now.”



Owens still referred to Schancez as her son but applauded his self-acceptance — unlike that of Brady. She said she couldn’t understand how a man could murder someone out of his own shame.



“[Brady] has to deal with that fact now,” she said in court. “He will always try to be with someone like my son and hide who he really is.”

Jury finds Brady guilty of transgender woman's murder

At that, Brady cocked his head up and away from Owens.



“I can’t see my son anymore, but his family can see him,” she said toward the end. “What’s the fairness in that?”



Brady’s family, in the audience, declined to comment after the hearing. One woman got up and left the room halfway through Owens’ testimony.



Porter rescheduled the sentencing and motion for retrial for Nov. 7, where others will testify and Harris may present evidence for a possible new trial.

Fort Myers man arrested in killing, burning of transgender woman