Westmoreland County Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio yesterday granted a prosecution request for jurors to visit the site of the shooting death of Officer Lloyd Reed Jr. when the trial of 33-year-old Ray Shetler Jr. begins next week.
Shetler is charged with first degree murder and third degree murder in Reed’s killing, which occurred in November of 2015. Shetler shot Reed during a gunfight outside the New Florence home of Shetler’s girlfriend, but he claims it was in self defense after Reed shot first.
In addition to viewing the Ligonier Street shooting site, the jurors will be bussed about a half-mile away, across the Conemaugh River into Indiana County, where Shetler fled after the shooting. Investigators say he swam across the river and stole a pickup truck from the nearby power plant, but the truck broke down. The jury members will be shown the spot in the brush where the rifle used in the shooting and the clothes Shetler was wearing were hidden
The judge said yesterday that after the jury is chosen next week, the trial itself will probably take two weeks. So far, no rulings on defense motions appear on Shetler’s docket sheet.
