NAU shooting-death trial begins
Trial is underway for Steven Jones, the former Northern Arizona University student who shot four young men during a melee that spilled onto campus in October 2015, with opening arguments expected to begin as soon as this afternoon.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys culled through questionnaires from prospective jurors on Friday.
Jury selection began Tuesday morning.
The jury questionnaire said that the trial could last as long as five weeks.
Prospective jurors were told to prepare to attend court four days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, beginning Tuesday and continuing through May 5. Five things to know about the trial:
1. Self-defense or murder?
Jones, now 20, is charged with firstdegree murder in the death of Colin Brough, 20, and aggravated assault for wounding three other students.
He claims that he shot in self-defense after a mob of fraternity brothers chased and assaulted him and his friends while they were standing in front of an apartment complex where a party was going on.
He ran to his car in a parking lot across the street and on campus, retrieved a gun from the glove compartment and confronted the attackers. He says they charged him and he fired, killing Brough and wounding his roommate, Nick Piring.
Then, as Jones tried to render aid to the wounded youths, he claims, he was jumped by the crowd and fired blindly in the air. Those shots wounded two other students, Nicholas Prato and Kyle Zientek.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, say that Jones was never in danger for his life, and that he returned to the fight with premeditation — and a gun.
To justify the premeditation claim, Deputy Coconino County Attorney Ammon Barker told the court, “The defendant then ran to his car, retrieved his gun and then went back to the fight.”