Jury chosen in case of accused child killer
The final member of a jury was selected Friday in the capital murder case of a man accused in the stomping death of his 3-month-old son.
A jury of seven women and five men, along with two alternate jurors, are expected to hear the case against Travis James Mullis beginning March 7 in Judge John Ellisor’s 122nd District Court in Galveston.
Mullis, 24, is accused of stomping on the head of his only child, Alijah, on Jan. 29, 2008.
Prosecutors are seeking a capital murder conviction and the death penalty.
Wildlife sightseers found Alijah’s body on a hurricane levee near the easternmost end of Galveston’s seawall.
Mullis was arrested in Philadelphia, and in a Feb. 2, 2008, videotaped interview with Philadelphia homicide investigators, he described in great detail and acted out the final moments of his son’s life.
Mullis told investigators he was stressed out and that the only way to make his son stop crying was to kill him, according to the videotaped statement ruled admissible in court last month.
Mullis put his thumbs on the boy’s throat until he could hear a gurgling sound. He stomped on Alijah’s head three or four times, according to the video.
Mullis threw the car seat and grabbed a lifeless Alijah, tossing the boy by both legs in the same direction, the recording states.
Philadelphia police placed a tissue box on the floor and asked Mullis to show them the force he used. Mullis then lightly stepped on the box, the video revealed.
Mullis remains jailed in solitary confinement on a $1 million bond.
The jury pool was expected to include 1,600 people, but prosecutors Donna Cameron and Kayla Allen and defense attorneys Robert K. Loper and Gerald Bourque selected a jury from the first draw of 400 people.
Attorneys questioned jurors for two weeks before finalizing the panel, Cameron said.
http://www.khou.com/news/Jury-chosen...116534988.html
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