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Jury selection in Wilks case in final stages
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Wilks
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Opening arguments are expected to begin today in the case of a man facing the death penalty in a murder on the North Side last May.
Jury selection in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court wrapped up Monday, about three weeks after it began, for Willie Wilks, 42, of Elm Street.
Wilks faces charges of aggravated murder and felonious assault in the the May 13 murder of 20-year-old Ororo Wilkins and the wounding of another man at a Park Avenue home on the North Side. Wilkins was holding an infant at the time she was shot, but the baby was not harmed.
If Wilks is convicted of aggravated murder, he could face the death penalty because of the added specification that he tried to kill more than one person.
Judge Lou D’Apolito is hearing the case.
More than 100 potential jurors reported to Judge D’Apolito’s courtroom March 14 for orientation, then attorneys on both sides, along with the judge, began the process of selecting jurors who could be seated to hear a death-penalty case.
After three weeks, 46 people remained in the jury pool, and the final 12 jurors plus four alternates were chosen Monday morning.
Jurors visited the crime scene Monday afternoon before being sent home for the day.
If Wilks is convicted of aggravated murder with death-penalty specifications, a second phase of the trial, called the mitigation phase, will take place. During that phase, defense attorneys would present evidence on mitigating factors to try to persuade the jury to spare the defendant’s life.
Only jurors can recommend a sentence of death.
The last person to be sentenced to death in Mahoning County was Bennie Adams, who was convicted in October 2008 of the 1985 murder of Youngstown State University student Gina Tenney. Former Judge Timothy Franken upheld the jury’s recommendation of death in that case.
Police believe Wilks, angry over an ongoing dispute, pulled up to the home and opened fire with an assault rifle. Wilkins was struck in the head as she sat on the porch of the home holding a 5-month-old child. The child fell to the ground but suffered no injuries in the shooting.
Wilks reportedly was dating Wilkins’ mother. Police believe Wilks and the woman’s son, Wilkins’ brother, were involved in an ongoing dispute over Wilks’ treatment of the mother.
Wilks was arrested the next day when he was seen driving a van belonging to Wilkins’ mother.