Since his arrest soon after the killing of Saint Clair Township Police Officer Lloyd Reed Jr. in November of 2015, Ray Shetler Jr. of New Florence has waited in the Westmoreland County Prison, awaiting a trial that has been scheduled, postponed, and rescheduled eight times times. Jury selection is finally scheduled to begin next Monday for the trial of the 33-year-old Shetler, who is accused of shooting Reed during a confrontation outside the New Florence home of Shetler’s girlfriend, Kristin Luther.
Last Thursday, Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio fielded the prosecution’s proposed questions to be asked of prospective jurors, along with defense attorney Marc Daffner’s motions to exclude testimony about Shetler’s prior criminal history, “victim’s impact” evidence, and photographs of Reed’s autopsy.
The judge will hold a pretrial hearing today, at which time she is expected to issue rulings on the motions and handle all other pretrial issues.
There are two other cases that have been consolidated into one trial for Shetler. He is charged with terroristic threats, sinple assault, and harassment of Luther for the domestic violence incident for which Reed was called to the home on the night of the shooting. The other is for theft and receiving stolen property for stealing a pickup truck from a nearby power plant in his attempt to escape after the shooting. That truck had mechanical problems and broke down before he could get away.
District Attorney John Peck is seeking the death penalty for first degree murder, asserting that Reed being a police officer is the aggravating circumstance that qualifies the case for capital status. Shetler’s attorney is claming self defense.
[xyz-ihs snippet=”ST-Bank-Debt-Consolidation”]
