Lanier jury sequestered till Friday

YOUNGSTOWN — The jury deciding the fate of Antwon Lanier, who is charged in the slaying of Sierra Y. Slaton almost four years ago, has been sequestered in a hotel for the night and will resume deliberations at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for nine hours today without reaching a verdict in the capital murder case.

Lanier is charged with the aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and rape of Slaton, 19, of Vestal Road, whose body was found floating in McKelvey Lake on Aug. 7, 2005, the day after she died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court is presiding over the trial.

The prosecution alleges Lanier, 25, of Mahoning County jail, and his co-defendant, Antonio Jackson, 28, of Summer Street, raped Slaton in South Side Park, before Jackson shot her on the shore of McKelvey Lake and dumped her in the water.

Jackson’s capital murder trial on the same charges is to begin Oct. 16 after Judge Durkin declared a mistrial in his case in March.