Opening arguments were presented this week on the first day of Ernst Cherizard's first-degree murder trial, more than seven years after three members of a Haines City family were shot to death. Cherizard, now 46, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his girlfriend, her young daughter, and the girlfriend's aunt.
The shootings took place in Haines City on April 12, 2019, according to baynews9.com, which reported that Cherizard's girlfriend, 23-year-old Eli Junia Normil, and her 48-year-old aunt were found dead at the scene that day. Normil's six-year-old daughter, Elizabelle Frenel, was also shot and later died at a hospital. The Lakeland Ledger, which first reported this week's trial opening, has covered the case since the killings, and Lakeland Ledger reported that opening arguments unfolded on the trial's first day.
Accounts of exactly when Elizabelle died differ. A 2019 Ledger report said she died a day after the shootings at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, while Bay News 9 reported she died two days after Normil and her aunt were found dead. The supplied record does not resolve which timeline is accurate.
Grand Jury Indictment and Death Penalty Pursuit
A Polk County grand jury indicted Cherizard on three counts of first-degree murder along with one count of tampering with physical evidence, the Ledger's 2019 report on the indictment states. Bay News 9 reported separately that the State Attorney's Office announced it would pursue the death penalty in the case.
FOX 35 Orlando's coverage at the time described Cherizard as accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend inside a Haines City apartment complex before turning the gun on her daughter. The station also reported that a judge ordered Cherizard held without bond on the three first-degree murder counts, according to fox35orlando.com.
A Case With An Unclear Path to Trial
Complicating the record, a 2021 Ledger report stated that Cherizard pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder that February, and that his trial, which had been scheduled for March of that year, was canceled as a result. The same report said the State Attorney's Office indicated it would continue seeking the death penalty regardless, with the article noting prosecutors maintained that “Cherizard's guilty pleas don't change that.”
How the case moved from those reported 2021 guilty pleas to a trial opening with arguments this week is not explained in available reporting, and no information has been provided describing any change in plea or renewed trial setting. The spelling of the aunt's surname also varies across reports, appearing as Gillume, Guillume and Guillaume in different accounts, and the record does not clarify which is correct.
No verdict, sentence, or other outcome from this week's trial has been reported. Cherizard, identified in coverage as a Haines City resident, remains charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Normil, her daughter and her aunt.
