Jurors could begin hearing testimony this week in a murder trial centered on a group of armed, masked men, wearing tactical gear and fake DEA patches, who left a man and his dog dead in a botched military-style raid of a Merritt Island home.
Defendants, Chase Councle Harrison, 33, Rockledge, Cory John Cabaniss, 31, Cocoa, and Anthony James Davila, 28, Cape Canaveral, are charged with first-degree murder in connection with the March 3, 2021, shooting death of 25-year-old Matthew Nicol. They’re also charged with armed burglary and animal cruelty.
Jury selection began Monday, July 20, at the Moore Justice Center, with a trial before Brevard Circuit Court Judge Katheryn Speicher expected to last through next week.
The Brevard grand jury indicted five men, including the three defendents, in the case in 2021. Also arrested were David Foreman-Taylor, 23, of Cocoa and Brian Vogel, 29, of Cocoa. Foreman-Taylor entered a plea deal and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Vogel took a plea deal in 2025 and was sentenced to 30 years in state prison with probation for life.
Harrison, Cabaniss and Davila remain held at the Brevard County Jail Complex pending the outcome of the trial. If convicted, the three could face up to life in prison.
Suspects wore tactical-style outfits with fake credentials
Prosecutors, expected to argue that the defendants were attempting to intimidate and rob Nicol, will offer evidence that the men rented a U-Haul truck and drove to Merritt Island to the Hall Road residence. Prosecutors will point out that five masked men, including the three defendants, wore black, tactical-style uniforms with replica DEA and sheriff patches to the home of a rival Merritt Island drug dealer.
The men stormed the residence armed with AR-15 rifles, with much of the incident captured by a security camera.
The trio was in search of illegal drugs and money when they were confronted by the victim and his dog, a German shepherd. One of the armed men tied Nicols up but accidentally shot him, investigators said. The dog was also shot to death.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” one of the masked men was heard shouting after the shooting, a witness told investigators later.
A roommate of Nicol’s called 911 to report gunfire. Investigators found bullet casings on leaves and a broken sliding door with a bullet hole in the glass. Nicol’s body was found inside the home on the tiled floor, in a pool of blood and on scattered glass, investigators reported. The home reeked of marijuana, investigators reported in court records.
The deadly shooting prompted a large-scale response from the sheriff’s office. Investigators tracked down the U-Haul rental information along with the cellphone of one of the suspects, court records show.
The information, investigators said, led to several arrests, with a link to another investigation involving a dogfighting ring.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Or X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Trial starts for men in botched fake 2021 DEA raid on Merritt Island
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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By J.D. Gallop, Florida Today | USA TODAY Network
