Wednesday, July 18, 2007
YOUNGSTOWN — Jury selection began this afternoon in the trial of Shon Rankin for the killing of Raymond Hayes, who was fatally shot outside a Hillman Street bar June 9, 2001.
Rankin, 28, of East Auburndale Avenue, who is on trial before Judge Charles J. Bannon of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, was secretly indicted and arrested in February 2007, after a jail inmate provided prosecutors with information for a direct presentment to a county grand jury.
Rankin had been paroled in September 2006, after serving a four-year prison term for an armed robbery in Cuyahoga County. If convicted of the murder, Rankin could receive a life prison term.
Police said Rankin followed Hayes, 32, of Mistletoe Avenue, outside the bar and shot him in the back after a yearlong grudge. Defense lawyer John Jeffrey Limbian has requested the jury view the shooting scene.