Jury Begins Deliberation In Trial Of Sheldon Jeter
BEAVER, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Beaver County jury has begun deliberating in the trial of Sheldon Jeter.
Closing arguments wrapped up Tuesday in Jeter's trial at the Beaver County Courthouse. He's accused of shooting and killing Tyric Pugh in Aliquippa last year.
The defense presented its case on Tuesday morning without putting Jeter on the stand to testify.
"Our client has decided not to testify. He's not compelled to testify. We believe the statements he has already made, that they already have on camera are sufficient," defense attorney Michael Santicola said.
Closing arguments began around 1 p.m., and the jury received the case around 4:40 p.m.
While deliberating on Tuesday, the jury had two questions. One was related to the evidence and testimony about the ballistics report, which the judge denied. The other was for reviewing surveillance video, which the jury did for about 15 minutes.
The judge then sent the jury home for the day around 6 p.m. They will resume deliberation Wednesday morning.
The prosecution rested its case Monday after a ballistic expert testified that the gun found under Jeter's bed ballistically matched evidence from the May 2020 murder scene on Kiehl Street. But Santicola called into question the veracity of ballistic evidence.
The prosecution's main point in closing arguments was that the two men were together and Jeter was the last one to see Pugh alive.
The defense's rebuttal was that there is no motive, the two were seen laughing together on the surveillance video, and there is no evidence that shows Jeter was in fact the last person to see Pugh alive.
"We did not suggest that there was ever a robbery. We didn't suggest that we had an idea of who did this," said Santicola. "We just suggested that it clearly showed that Sheldon did not do this if you really examine each piece of evidence. I think there were a lot of roads that they just did not travel and that's the problem."
Jeter is also a central figure in the Rachael DelTondo homicide case.
DelTondo was shot to death on Mother's Day of 2018 in front of her parents' Aliquippa home. DelTondo was alleged to have had a romantic connection to Jeter while he was a teenager, none of which was brought up in any testimony in front of the jury in this case.
