TAMPA, Fla. — Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial for a Riverview man accused of killing his girlfriend and 9-year-old daughter.
Ronnie Oneal III, 32, was arrested in March 2018 and accused of killing his girlfriend Kenyatta Barron and their 9-year-old daughter, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
He pleaded not guilty in April 2018. In May 2018, the State Attorney's Office said they would seek the death penalty. Five months later, Oneal was found not competent to stand trial.
In May 2019, the Department of Children and Families sent a letter to the judge saying, "the treatment staff are of the opinion that this resident is competent to proceed and no longer meets criteria for continued involuntary commitment." The judge ruled the following month that Oneal was competent to stand trial.
Two years later, that trial appears to be ready to begin. Oneal faces two charges of first-degree premeditated murder, a first-degree arson charge, a charge for resisting an officer without violence and two charges of aggravated child abuse.
Oneal also faces an attempted murder charge after allegedly nearly killing his son the same night.
Oneal has reportedly stated during a pretrial hearing in May he will represent himself in court during his upcoming trial. The news was first reported by The Tampa Bay Times.
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