Jury mulls murder case in Pa. welding shop slaying

Jury mulls murder case in Pa. welding shop slaying

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) — Jurors resume deliberations today in the trial of a former Texas man accused of having shot a bystander to death during a confrontation at a western Pennsylvania welding shop last year.

The (Washington) Observer-Reporter says jurors deliberated for about six hours Monday in the case of 49-year-old Danny Kirtley, who is charged in the February 2011 shooting death of 34-year-old Trevor Compton of Mont Belvieu, Texas.

Kirtley testified earlier in the day that he shot Compton in self-defense at Rosenboom Welding & Fabrication in North Strabane Township.

He said he was attacked by Compton and another worker and one of them hit him with a pipe, and he feared for his life when he fired at Compton.

Prosecutors said his testimony contradicted earlier statements he gave to police.