TAMPA, Fla. (Court TV) — A judge had to warn a defendant multiple times to behave himself in the courtroom as his trial began on charges that he attacked and sexually assaulted a DoorDash driver.
Joseph Killins, 41, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including sexual battery, armed kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder and robbery.
Joseph Killins appears in court on Aug. 11, 2026. (Court TV)
Before the jury entered the courtroom on Tuesday to hear opening statements in the case, Judge Lindsay Alvarez gave Killins a stern warning. “You disrupt, and we’re going to remove you from the courtroom,” she said. “Obviously, I would send the jury out first and then remove you from the courtroom, but if you do disrupt, I’m going to remove you from the courtroom. I don’t want to do that, so behave yourself like you and I both know you can behave.”
After the jury came in, Assistant State Attorney Jessica Couvertier delivered her opening statement, saying Killins attacked a woman who was delivering a pizza for DoorDash on April 18, 2023. The alleged victim was on the phone with her girlfriend as she was getting out of her car when “her world changed — because what she saw was Joseph Killins,” Couvertier said. The defendant allegedly held her at gunpoint, forced her back into the vehicle and then sat in the back seat behind the driver.
“For two hours, he made her drive around the Tampa area,” Couvertier said. “Still making demands, still wanting money, trying to figure out what he was going to do with her.” Eventually, the defendant allegedly directed the driver to stop at an apartment complex and park, where he is accused of sexually assaulting her.
The alleged victim’s girlfriend heard what was going on until the call cut out, then immediately called friends and family to help locate her using the alleged victim’s phone location. The alleged victim’s girlfriend and the girlfriend’s twin sister jumped into a car and were the first to find the defendant with the alleged victim. While the girlfriend grabbed the alleged victim and ran, the girlfriend’s sister approached the defendant with a bat, Couvertier said. At that point, Killins allegedly opened fire, shooting the girlfriend’s sister in the head.
By the time police arrived, Killins was gone from the scene; Couvertier said he had run to a neighboring apartment complex but didn’t stay hidden for long. The next morning, Killins was arrested after allegedly attacking a different woman at the same apartment complex where he had allegedly attacked the first woman.
The alleged victim took the stand as the first witness, saying the defendant told her, “If I try to do something else, he was gonna kill me….I kept driving, and I thought multiple times about throwing myself out of the car, but I was so scared.”
During a brief break in the victim’s testimony, Killins’ attorney, Jonathan Hackworth, raised a concern to the judge. Killins, Hackworth said, insisted that he ask the alleged victim a series of questions about the directions in which she turned while in the car with the defendant, arguing that it would prove the witness was not telling the truth. Hackworth tried to explain to his client that asking those questions would allow the jury to see other evidence previously suppressed at trial.
“I don’t know that yelling about a right turn or a left turn for five minutes is a great strategy decision,” Hackworth said. “He’s demanding me to do it. I’m putting on the record I do not think that’s going to play well.”
Joseph Killins speaks to the judge on Aug. 11, 2026. (Court TV)
At that point, Killins raised his hand. “Can I say something?” he asked. “No,” Alvarez responded. “I want you to shut your mouth and open your ears.”
The judge reminded Killins of their conversation about behavior and decorum earlier in the day. “I said to you, the state was going to give an opening. You weren’t going to like it. You did really great. …You have done nothing yet to cause me to remove you, but when I see you getting really agitated and I feel it, I’m a very vibe person, I feel a lot of energy from people and I’m feeling the energy. It makes me a little nervous that you may not be able to control yourself.”
Testimony resumes after lunch.
