Associated Press
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — Jury selection has begun in the trial of a Wyoming teenager accused of killing a Scotts Bluff County jailer.
Potential jurors met Friday in the Scottsbluff Elks Lodge, The Scottsbluff Star-Herald reported.
Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said the lodge was being used because a large jury pool had been chosen for the case.
“There is a lot to it,” Overman said. “There are a lot of questions asked by the attorneys and the judge only wants to do it once. Because of that, we needed a bigger venue than the courtroom.”
Dylan Cardeilhac of Torrington, Wyoming, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old corrections officer Amanda Baker at Scotts Bluff County Detention Center.
The 16-year-old is charged as an adult. He’s accused of strangling Baker on Valentine’s Day so he could steal her keys and try to escape. Baker died two days later at a hospital.
Opening statements in the case are expected to begin Monday at the Scotts Bluff County Courthouse. If convicted, Cardeilhac could face life imprisonment.
Cardeilhac was being held in the detention center in Gering, just east of the Wyoming border, on charges of armed robbery and use of a weapon in a December convenience store robbery. In May, he was given eight to 15 years in prison for that crime.
Jail security video shows Cardeilhac talking Baker into checking something on his cell floor and then pouncing on her when she turned her back, according to an arrest affidavit.