43
Opening statements expected today in murder trial of teen
YOUNGSTOWN
Opening statements are expected today in the trial of a Youngstown teen charged with murder in the 2011 shooting of another teen on the South Side.
Shonqualin Eevill Hendrix, 16, of Midland Avenue, spent Monday sitting in the courtroom of Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court listening to his attorney, Mark Lavelle, and prosecutors question prospective jurors for his trial.
Hendrix, who was indicted as an adult by a Mahoning County grand jury earlier this year, is on trial for the July 29 shooting death of 17-year-old Braylen Collins of West Glenaven Avenue.
Attorneys spent the bulk of the day selecting a jury. Those selected to sit on the jury will visit the crime scene today before opening statements from the state and defense lawyers.
Collins was shot at Evergreen Avenue and Summer Street on the city’s South Side and died shortly thereafter in St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Hendrix, who had been a Chaney High School student, was arrested at a house on Edwards Street and charged with Collins’ murder several days later. If he’s convicted as charged, Hendrix faces 18 years to life in prison.
City police arrested Delord M. Green, 19, of Summer Street, at the shooting scene on a charge of tampering with evidence. Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court put Green on three years’ probation earlier this year after he pleaded guilty to that charge.
Police believe the shooting stemmed from a fight between Hendrix and Green the evening before the shooting took place, but they are not sure whether Collins was the intended victim.