Jury selection begins for 5 suspects in brutal slaying of teen

MIAMI (WSVN) -- After almost five years, the five suspects accused of kidnapping, raping and killing teenager Ana Maria Angel are finally going to court.

Potential jurors arrived Tuesday at the Metro Justice Building, so the trial could get started.

On April 28, 2002, the young woman was on a date with her boyfriend on South Beach when, police say, they were attacked by the men who were all seated in the courthouse in prison jumpsuits.

According to police reports, four adults and one teenager from Orlando abducted the couple. The suspects grabbed them off the street and headed north. The men robbed, beat and stabbed Angel's boyfriend in the neck. They abandoned him for dead, but he survived. Angel, however, was not so lucky.

The group robbed, beat, sexually assaulted, then shot her to death, execution style. They left her body along Interstate 95.

According to police, 28-year-old Joel Lebron admitted to pulling the trigger. Although the confession was not recorded, it won't stop the case. "Obviously, we would prefer to have a tape-recorded version of the confession," said Ed Griffith of the State Attorney's Office. "However, we believe that we have all of the elements necessary to vigorously pursue this case."

It could take several days for the jury to be selected, and it could take months to finalize the trial since there are five suspects involved.

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