Legal issue delays start of capital murder trial

YOUNGSTOWN

The start of the capital murder trial of a man accused of murdering a woman on a North Side porch in May has been delayed at least a day.

Jurors in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court were expected to hear opening statements Tuesday in the case against 42-year-old Willie Wilks of Elm Street, who could be sentenced to death if convicted of the aggravated murder of 20-year-old Ororo Wilkins on May 13 as she was holding a baby on a Park Avenue porch. Another man was wounded in the shooting.

However, Judge Lou D’Apolito sent jurors home after an unforeseen legal issue cropped up, the judge said, and attorneys for both sides need the day to study the issue. The judge wouldn’t say what the legal issue is.

Judge D’Apolito said he hopes opening arguments can begin Wednesday.