WEST PALM BEACH — An appellate court Wednesday overturned the murder conviction of one of several men serving life in prison for the 2005 beating death of Julio Paxtore outside a Fort Pierce convenience store.

The 4th District Court of Appeal said police violated Jerry Pierre’s Miranda rights when they continued questioning him after he told a detective that “I’m not saying any more” during an interrogation after the killing.

Paxtore, 32, died in August 2005 after a group of teens pulled him off his bicycle, then kicked and stomped him. It was Paxtore’s payday, and he had just purchased a phone card to call his wife in Guatemala and tell her that money was on its way.

Circuit Judge Burton Conner sentenced Pierre to life in prison for murder and 15 years in prison for robbery after a jury convicted him of participating in the beating. Pierre is now 23.

In the opinion, the appellate judges said Burton incorrectly ruled that a minute-long pause in the videotaped police interrogation was merely “an attempt to avoid admitting Defendant (Pierre) bragged about his participation in the robbery and murder,” not a refusal to answer questions. The pause occurred after Pierre told Fort Pierce police Detective Tyrone Campbell he didn’t want to talk anymore.

“The only interpretation that can be made from the tape is that, as a reasonable police officer, Detective Campbell understood Pierre’s statement to be a demand that questioning cease,” appellate Judge Martha C. Warner wrote in Wednesday’s ruling.

Two other men charged in Paxtore’s death, Cordealria Collins and Edward Harris, were also convicted of first-degree murder and are serving life sentences.

The appellate court rejected Harris’ last appeal in April 2008 after he argued that the trial judge should have thrown out his confession and later allowed him to change attorneys.

A fourth teen, Kinwend Taylor, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in exchange for his testimony against the others.

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