Trial of Alabama trucker charged in 1999 murders of two teenagers delayed until next year because too few jurors show up

A decide rescheduled the trial of an Alabama trucker charged with homicide in the killings of two teenagers in 1999 after too few jurors confirmed up for the beginning of the case.

Dale County Circuit Court Judge William H. Filmore delayed the trial of Coley McCraney, 48, in a one-sentence order issued Tuesday, information confirmed.

Only 75 of 250 potential jurors confirmed up for the beginning of jury choice on Monday, and that quantity was rapidly diminished for causes together with a big quantity of publicity in regards to the killings and McCraney’s arrest. CBS affiliate WTVY-TV reported that with too few folks from which attorneys might choose a jury, the decide known as off the trial until next year.

J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, each 17, disappeared after heading out for a celebration in southeastern Alabama on July 31, 1999. Their our bodies have been discovered the next day in the trunk of Beasley’s black Mazda alongside a street in Ozark, with every teen shot in the top.

The case sat for many years with out an arrest until police employed an organization to run crime scene DNA by way of a web based family tree database. McCraney, who has pleaded not responsible, was arrested in 2019 after authorities mentioned they’d discovered a match with genetic materials discovered on the crime scene.

Last week, the case took a dramatic flip when a girl whose claims about police being concerned in the killings mentioned she was mendacity the entire time.