A man who was convicted of murder in California has been charged with first-degree murder and theft in Florida. Demorris Hunter, 59, is facing a potential death sentence if found guilty on the charges in the death of 38-year-old Theresa Ann Green, who was found in the trunk of her car, strangled to death in the early 2000s.

Cold Case Murder

The cold case from 2002 has finally resurfaced, and the family of Theresa Ann Green may finally receive justice. On May 26, 2002, Hunter was living in the same apartment building as Green, and the two attended the same party hosted by other neighbors, Joyce and Joseph Butler.

Hunter and Green left the party at the same time, and witnesses reported to police that they saw the two fall down the stairs together before getting up and walking into Green’s apartment. Hours after the party had ended, the Butlers told police that Hunter returned to ask Joseph for a favor. 

Hunter allegedly asked Joseph to follow behind him in his white van while he drove Green’s car, and reported that he never saw the victim throughout the situation. Hunter parked the victim’s Oldsmobile at a Walgreens before joining Joseph in the white van. When asked why they were doing what they were doing, Hunter said, “I did something really bad.”

After the alleged confession, Joseph said he did not want to hear anything more, so the conversation was stopped. Police dispatched officers to the Walgreens, where they discovered Green’s car with her body wrapped in an unknown material in the trunk. A medical examiner declared her death a homicide by manual strangulation.

Previous Murders

Officers interviewed Henry Fields, who was the actual owner of the white van that Hunter and Joseph were driving that night. Fields told investigators that Hunter recently traveled from Oakland, California, and that he admitted to committing a murder there before arriving in Orlando. 

The West Coast victim was Hunter’s girlfriend’s longtime friend, Ivora Denise Huntley. According to records, Hunter fatally shot the victim in March 2002 before fleeing to Florida, where he killed again in the following month of May. 

Hunter has a history of violence and another previous conviction from 1985, where records show that he killed a man and injured two others during the incident. The details of the situation are unclear, but he was convicted of the senseless murder. Unfortunately, he was released 12 years later, and shortly after, he committed the murder of Huntley. 

Extradited to Florida

Hunter was convicted in 2003 of the murder in California and sentenced to 110 years in prison before being extradited to Florida to face the charges in relation to Green’s death. Prosecutors filed their intent to seek the death penalty if the defendant is found guilty.

Hunter was serving his sentence in Orange County Jail, where he has been since 2015, awaiting extradition. He was indicted in 2014 for the death of Green and has waited over a decade to be extradited to face the consequences of his actions from 2002. He has already served what the courts deem a life sentence across both states. 

Start of Trial

It has been a long-awaited start of the trial. Hunter has been assigned at least six public defenders, and has finally secured one to defend him in trial. His defense attorneys have filed several motions to prevent the death penalty, but have not been successful thus far.

Jury selection began in the Florida case on Monday, March 30, 2026, and continued through the week. Opening statements were heard today, after previously being scheduled for Good Friday.