Bryan Pata and Jada Brody: The Motive, Arrest, and Mistrial

Jada Brody was Bryan Pata’s live-in girlfriend on November 7, 2006, the night the University of Miami defensive lineman was shot once in the head outside their apartment in Kendall. Her earlier relationship with Pata’s teammate Rashaun Jones became the backbone of the motive theory prosecutors used fifteen years later when they charged Jones with second-degree murder, a case that ended in a mistrial in March 2026 and is set to be retried in September 2026.¹

Who Jada Brody Was

Jada Louella Brody was a freshman at the University of Miami when she met Pata through his teammate Dave Howell. The two dated for about seven months before moving into the Colony at Dadeland apartment complex together in May 2006. People close to the couple described the relationship as volatile, marked by jealousy and frequent arguments. Two people close to Brody, along with Pata’s roommate Dwayne Hendricks, told police the couple had a history of domestic violence. Brody denied those claims.¹

Before dating Pata, Brody had dated Rashaun Jones, a defensive back on the same Hurricanes roster.² That earlier connection is what pulled her name into the investigation and, eventually, into the prosecution’s theory of the case.

Where She Was the Night of the Shooting

Pata returned home from football practice on the evening of November 7, 2006, and was shot once in the left side of the head with a medium-caliber bullet after stepping out of his black Infiniti QX56. He was pronounced dead at roughly 7:07 p.m.¹

Brody was inside the apartment she shared with him. She told police she heard what sounded like an argument downstairs, went outside, and found Pata in the parking lot. She then went back into the apartment and called 911. In statements to detectives in the days that followed, she mentioned a prior incident in which she had seen an unknown man looking at the rims on Pata’s SUV, a detail investigators later folded into their broader list of leads. She was not reported to have given formal courtroom testimony at the 2026 trial.¹

Pata’s roommate Dwayne Hendricks, a fellow defensive tackle who later played for the New York Giants, pulled into the complex shortly after Pata and was the person who found him on the ground. Hendricks initially thought Pata, known as a jokester, was playing a prank. “He had a puddle of blood behind his head. That’s when it hit me. He wasn’t playing,” Hendricks testified nearly two decades later.³

How Her Past With Rashaun Jones Became the Motive Theory

Prosecutors built their motive around the triangle between Pata, Brody, and Jones. According to Dave Howell, Jones would make comments to Brody, who would then relay them to Pata, sparking confrontations. Pata, for his part, reportedly taunted Jones about the earlier relationship.⁴

The friction predated Brody’s move-in. In the summer of 2004, Jones was caught sneaking out of teammate Eric Moncur’s dorm room, and Pata confronted him. The encounter turned physical, with Howell testifying that Pata punched and headbutted Jones.⁵ Moncur testified that after the fight Jones said, “Go ahead and clip up,” which Moncur explained meant to get a gun.⁶ About two months before the murder, Pata told his brother Edwin that Jones had threatened to shoot him in the head.⁷

On the morning of November 7, 2006, Jones was suspended from the team for a second positive marijuana test and had changed his phone number. He was the only player who missed a mandatory team meeting that evening.⁸ Cell phone records later showed his phone connected at 6:41 p.m. to a tower 2.2 miles from the crime scene and was using a different tower by 7:40 p.m., though he told detectives in two separate interviews after the murder that he had never left home.⁷

Jerome Brody, Jada’s Twin Brother, as an Early Lead

The Brody name pulled investigators in a second direction as well. Jada’s twin brother, Jerome Brody, had a lengthy criminal record involving guns and violence. Pata’s sister Ronette told police that after Pata learned details about Jada’s past, threats came from Brody’s relatives.¹

Less than a month after Pata’s murder, on December 4, 2006, Jerome Brody was arrested in Boston after a traffic stop. Police found two handguns and crack cocaine in his vehicle, and the handguns were ballistically linked to a separate Boston homicide, the shooting death of Jahmol A. Norfleet.⁹ Miami-Dade Detective Miguel Dominguez flew to the Boston jail in mid-December to interview him. Jerome refused to cooperate, telling the detective, “I will listen to you guys, but I’m not saying s—!” He would not confirm whether he had ever met Pata or account for where he was on the night of the murder.¹

Jada Brody told the Boston Globe at the time that the accusations against her brother were “ridiculous” and that Jerome had not visited Miami since May 2006. Ballistics ultimately showed that the handguns recovered in Boston did not match the weapon used to kill Pata, and no one in the Brody family was charged in the killing.¹

The Arrest of Rashaun Jones and the 2026 Mistrial

The case sat unsolved for years. Miami-Dade Police investigated more than 100 people and compiled a file nearly 200 pages long before Detective Juan Segovia was assigned as lead detective in 2020. His review of prior statements, cell phone records, and historical threats led to Jones’s arrest on August 19, 2021, in Lake County, Florida, on a charge of second-degree murder.¹⁰⁷

Jones pleaded not guilty. Before trial, he rejected a plea offer of 15 years, telling Judge Cristina Miranda, “Deep down in my heart, I know I’m innocent.” He said dismissal was the only outcome he would accept.¹¹

Jury selection began February 10, 2026, and the trial ran roughly three weeks. The prosecution’s case was almost entirely circumstantial, resting on three pillars:

Paul Conner, a retired University of Miami writing instructor who lived at the complex, testified by a 2022 recorded deposition because his mental health had declined at age 81. Conner said he heard a loud bang and came face-to-face with a man running from the scene 15 to 20 seconds later, and in 2007 identified Jones from a photo lineup with “90% certainty.” Investigators had at one point believed Conner was dead before an ESPN reporter located him in Kentucky in the summer of 2025.¹²
Cell phone records that Detective Segovia testified placed Jones near the crime scene around the time of the shooting.¹³
Testimony from former teammates about the 2004 fight, Jones’s alleged threats against Pata, and their belief that Jones owned a gun.¹⁰

The defense pointed to gaps. Conner’s sighting happened in the dark, lasted only seconds, and the photo lineup came seven months later; Conner was unsure whether he had been wearing his glasses.¹⁴ Segovia testified that fingerprints lifted from Pata’s car matched a different individual who had been ruled out, and no direct physical evidence tied Jones to the killing.¹³

The six-person jury deliberated nearly six hours on February 26, 2026, then resumed on March 2 before reporting it was deadlocked. Judge Miranda declared a mistrial. One anonymous juror told Local 10 News that five of the six jurors had favored acquittal, describing the state’s case as containing “a lot of speculation” and “so many gaps.”¹⁵

Where the Case Stands Now

Prosecutors announced within two days that they would retry Jones. The retrial was initially set for May 18, 2026, then postponed after the defense filed an emergency motion alleging that Detective Segovia had operated an anonymous Instagram account, @balanceof_justice, during the first trial. Posts attributed to the account included “GUILTY” and “he’s guilty as sin.” The defense argued the account was linked to Segovia through an email address, phone number, and IP address, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office confirmed an internal affairs investigation.¹⁶

Jones remains in custody at the Metro West Detention Center, where he has been held since August 2021. Judge Miranda reduced his bond from $850,000 to $500,000 after the mistrial, though Jones chose to remain in custody.¹⁷ The murder retrial is scheduled to begin September 14, 2026, before Judge Miranda.¹⁸

1
ESPN. Who Killed Miami Hurricanes Football Player Bryan Pata
2
Yahoo News. Ex-University of Miami Footballer Nabbed
3
Local 10 News. Ex-NFL Player Dwayne Hendricks Testifies About Finding Bryan Pata Dead
4
The Athletic. Former Miami Players Stunned After Teammate Rashaun Jones Is Charged in Shooting Death of Bryan Pata
5
Miami Herald. Bryan Pata Murder Trial Testimony
6
CBS News Miami. Day 2 University of Miami Football Player Murder Trial
7
Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. Arrest Made in 2006 Brian Pata Cold Case Homicide
8
ABC News. Bryan Pata Murder Case Ends in Mistrial After 20 Years
9
Sun-Sentinel. Possible Lead in Pata Case
10
NBC Miami. Why Police Waited 15 Years to Accuse Someone in UM Football Player’s Murder
11
ESPN. Former Miami Player Rashaun Jones Trial in Death of Bryan Pata
12
Local 10 News. Bryan Pata Murder Trial Jurors Hear Testimony From Key Witness Once Thought Dead
13
Miami Herald. Bryan Pata Murder Case Trial Testimony
14
The Miami Hurricane. Mistrial Declared in Murder Case of UM Football Player
15
Local 10 News. Verdict Watch Continues in Bryan Pata Murder Trial
16
ESPN. Bryan Pata Rashaun Jones Retrial Postponed Amid Misconduct Allegations
17
NBC Miami. Re-Trial Date Set for Teammate Charged in 2006 Murder of UM Star Bryan Pata
18
The Miami Hurricane. Murder Retrial of Former UM Football Player Pushed to September Amid Social Media Allegations