Jury selection in former FSU football star Travis Rudolph’s murder trial – NBC 6 South Florida

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday in the murder trial of former Florida State University and NFL wide receiver Travis Rudolph, who was charged after he allegedly opened fire on a group of people in Palm Beach County, killing one, in April 2021.

An NBC affiliate WPTV TV says a 27-year-old West Palm Beach man has been released from prison under house arrest after unsuccessfully seeking a “stand your ground” defense in his 2022 first-degree murder trial.

Rudolph was arrested and charged in the early-morning incident more than two years ago in Lake Park, just north of West Palm Beach. He is also charged with three counts of attempted first degree murder.

According to a police affidavit, one of the victims told police he had been in contact with Rudolphs girlfriend, who said she had been in a fight with the football player.

The man and three other people went to Rudolph’s home, where he was “immediately combative and confrontational, according to the affidavit.

After several minutes of physical struggle, Rudolph allegedly went back to his home and allegedly grabbed a firearm and ran behind the car before shooting it.

One person present was injured and later hospitalized. A passenger in the car was shot and killed, while the driver and another passenger were uninjured.

Detectives said witnesses told them Rudolph was holding a rifle shortly after they reported hearing gunshots. Rudolph refused to talk to detectives, according to the affidavit.

Rudolph was a high school star in West Palm Beach before signing with the Seminoles, where he played three seasons and finished his career with 18 touchdowns and helped lead FSU to an Orange Bowl victory to end the 2016 season.

Rudolph was Florida State’s leading receiver in 2015 and 2016 and left the team early to enter the NFL Draft in 2017. He went undrafted but eventually signed with the New York Giants and then the Miami Dolphins.

Rudolph won national attention in 2016 when a video of him eating lunch with an autistic student during a group visit at a Tallahassee middle school went viral. Rudolph’s father died a year later when a gun accidentally went off at a West Palm Beach strip club.