MILWAUKEE (AP) — With jury selection complete, opening statements are set to begin in the trial of a 76-year-old white Milwaukee man charged with gunning down a 13-year-old black neighbor whom he suspected of stealing.
John Henry Spooner is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. He’s accused of killing his next-door neighbor, Darius Simmons, in May 2012.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.
Fourteen people were selected for the jury Monday. At the end of the trial two will be randomly chosen and dismissed, and the other 12 will deliberate.
Only one of the 14 is black. Prosecutor Mark Williams says he’s not happy that the defense eliminated the other three black people in the overall jury pool. Defense attorney Franklyn Gimbel says race wasn’t an issue.
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