Jury selection underway in 2013 murder case

YOUNGSTOWN — Jury selection is underway in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a man accused of an October 2013 murder.

David Hackett, 54, is acting as his own lawyer before Judge John Durkin. He faces charges of aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping for the death of Collena Carpenter, 30, of Homeworth in Columbiana County.

She was found Oct. 13, 2013, near an access road near West Avenue stabbed to death several times.

Hackett also served prison time for a murder he was convicted of in 1979.

At one time he faced the death penalty for Carpenter's death but prosecutors dismissed death penalty specifications last year.