Jury selection got underway in Christian County Circuit Court Monday morning for a Hopkinsville man charged in a 2019 murder on Short Bethel Street.
Shakkory Willis is accused of fatally shooting 20-year old Corvyan Thomas during a burglary and robbery at 1923 Short Bethel Street on January 23, 2019.
Willis, his public defender Eric Bearden and Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling were in the courtroom as jury selection got underway and Judge John Atkins went over the instructions for jurors.
click to download audioJudge Atkins then read the grand jury indictment charging Willis with murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor.
He also told the prospective jurors the trial was scheduled to take a week but he was told by the lawyers it should wrap up sooner.
Willis was scheduled to be tried by a jury in February 2020, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Willis and his co-defendants in the case are accused of kicking in the door to the home on Short Bethel Street with the intent to rob 19-year old Dylan Stewart and Thomas of drugs and money. Police said during a preliminary hearing in February 2020 that Willis shot Stewart in the leg and shot Thomas three times with a handgun, resulting in his death.
The co-defendants in the case, James Yates, Lane Carter, Tia Ochs, Madison Wilson and a juvenile, Korey Zivotin, previously accepted plea deals and were sentenced to time in prison for their roles in connection to the case.
After the jury was selected Boling and Bearden gave their opening statements in the murder case and started calling investigators and others to the stand to testify.
The trial will continue Tuesday in Christian Circuit Court.
