Jury selected in trial over South Bend boy’s shooting death

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – A jury has been selected for the trial of the first of eight people charged in a 2-year-old South Bend boy’s shooting death last year.

The South Bend Tribune reports 16 jurors were chosen Monday. Court staff say about 70 potential jurors were called for a panel of 12 jurors and four alternates. Nineteen-year-old Robert L. Griffin is charged with murder and attempted murder in the April 9 death of John Swoveland Jr.

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jane Woodward Miller called the charges “particularly serious.” The trial is to start Monday.

Prosecutors accuse Griffin of pulling a handgun and opening fire on a rival gang member. Authorities say the boy was struck by a stray bullet from the gunfight. He was playing in a relative’s front yard.