8 jurors seated in 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting case
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Attorneys in the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting case interviewed 20 jurors Friday and accepted two, bringing the number of seated jurors to eight.
Twelve jurors and four alternates are needed for the Feb. 3 death penalty trial against Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas. The two are accused of gunning down five adults and an unborn child at a March 9, 2016, backyard cookout on Franklin Avenue.
Sixteen jurors were excused for hardship – some had vacations, one was about to deploy to Japan, and others could not afford to miss work or school.
Five jurors were stricken for cause, meaning they had opinions that wouldn’t allow them to be impartial. Three of those jurors had strong feelings about the death penalty, and two said they’d be more inclined to believe a police officer simply because he or she was a police officer.
Prosecutors used two peremptory challenges, which allow either side to disqualify a juror without stating a reason. They struck a younger white man who owns his own business and a retired white man who used to work as a production supervisor.
Both sides have 20 peremptory challenges. The defense’s are split between the two defendants. Prosecutors have used six; the defense teams have used four total.
Six jurors were selected over the first four days: Three men and three women.
Prosecuting the case are Deputy District Attorney Kevin Chernosky and Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini. Shelton, 32, is represented by Wendy Williams and Randall McKinney, and Thomas, 31, is represented by Casey White and Michael Machen.
The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.
Killed in the 2016 gunfire were siblings Jerry Shelton, 35, Brittany Powell, 27, and Chanetta Powell, 25; their cousin, Tina Shelton, 37; family friend Shada Mahone, 26; and Chanetta Powell’s unborn son, Demetrius. None of the slain Sheltons are related to the defendant.