FROSTPROOF, Fla. — A mother and father in Frostproof are outraged after the trial for their son's accused killer is delayed yet again, more than four years after his death.
Prosecutors say Tony “T.J.” Wiggins killed Brandon Rollins and two others in 2020 over a dispute about a truck engine.
All Rollins’ parents, Dottie Payton and Cyril Rollins, want is justice, after the three men were gunned down while fishing near Lake Streety. Just three days later, Wiggins, his girlfriend and his brother were all arrested; Wiggins was charged with capital murder.
While the latter two took plea deals, Wiggins was supposed to go on trial last month, but the murder case has been repeatedly delayed because of a newer federal case on gun charges for the alleged murder weapon.
“Very upset,” says Cyril. “I don't know what the feds got on that boy, but they got something on him.”
The federal case was filed last year, but only in the past week was the future for Payton and Rollins spelled out in court. This comes after a status hearing in the murder case that the federal case comes before the state capital murder trial, pushing possible closure into 2025 or beyond.
“It’s really aggravating because this should have already been finished and over with, but it's not,” Payton said. “Why didn't they go ahead and do it ahead of time? Why did they wait almost four years right before our trial was fixing to start before they took him into federal custody?”
The federal trial for Wiggins could begin in October and is expected to take about a week. His next court date for his capital murder trial isn't until late December.
“They just push me off,” Rollins said. “They got to wait till the feds get done.”
Both of them still want Wiggins to get the death penalty and brushed aside the thought of taking a lesser sentence if it ends the ordeal sooner.
“No,” Payton said. “As long as it takes, he's going to get the death penalty. None of those boys, they didn't get a chance to say, ‘Do I live or die?”
So they’ll continue waiting for the justice they say they their son deserves.
“He needs to pay for what he did,” Rollins said. “He didn't just take one. He took three.”