Teen goes on trial for murder

Michael Gonzalez was 15 when he was accused of killing his 73-year-old neighbor.

TAMPA - Opening statements are expected to begin today in the trial of Michael Gonzalez, who was a troubled 15-year-old when he was accused of murdering his 73-year-old neighbor Anna Erwin last year.

Gonzalez is charged with murder in the first degree, sexual assault and burglary. Because of his age, he faces life in prison if convicted, rather than the death penalty.

A jury of 12 was picked Monday.

Erwin died Jan. 10, 2002, in her mobile home on Sussex Drive in Town "N Country. Authorities say Gonzalez tricked her into letting him into her home by pretending he was sick and needed to use her phone.

Once inside, he raped Erwin and stabbed her to death, according to authorities. Her husband of 55 years discovered her body.

Gonzalez already had a rap sheet by age 15, Tampa police records show. When he was 12, he was charged with auto burglary. He was charged with home burglary and dealing in stolen property a year later. In October 2000, police charged him with assault and stealing a car. Since he was treated as a juvenile offender, the dispositions of those cases are not a matter of public record.

Gonzalez spent time in the Dorothy Thomas truancy home and also attended the Carver Center school for emotionally disturbed children, his uncle Robert Gonzalez once said in an interview.

After Erwin's death, sheriff's detectives questioned neighbors. They arrested Gonzalez after he changed his story during questioning, sheriff's Col. David Gee said.

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