Updated: Trial delayed for man charged in killing of Gadsden County confidential informant

By Jennifer Portman
Democrat senior writer

updated 9:52 a.m.

The capital-murder trial of one of two defendants charged in the 2002 killing of confidential informant Constance Dupont has been postponed.

The trial is expected to start sometime later this year or in January, according to various court officials.

A Leon County court spokesman earlier today said the trial was beginning this morning. It's been delayed, however, because one of the attorneys involved is ill.

morning update

One of two men charged in the 2002 shooting death of a Gadsden County woman is set to go on trial today in Quincy.

Hernandez Lopaz Daniels, currently serving a life sentence on federal drug-dealing charges, faces the death penalty in the killing of Constance Dupont. Investigators say Daniels hired another man, Fernando Taylor, to kill Dupont, who had been working as a confidential informant for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

On Aug. 3, 2002, the 39-year-old grandmother heard a knock on a window at her Havana apartment. When she peeked through the blinds, bullets shot through the glass and into her chest.

Taylor, who is in state prison for armed robbery, also faces the death penalty. He is being tried separately. A date hasn't been set.

Jury selection happened earlier this month in Daniels' trial. Leon Circuit Judge Thomas Bateman is presiding.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this story.