Jury selection begins in Deerfield murder case

Five jurors, all of them men, were seated Tuesday for the Lake County trial of a woman accused of killing a pregnant Deerfield woman and the victim's unborn child.

Marni Yang, 43, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the Oct. 6, 2007 slayings of Rhoni Reuter, 42, and Reuter's daughter Skylar, who was due to be born about two months after the shootings.

Prosecutors have said that Yang was jealous of Reuter's relationship with former Chicago Bears safety Shaun Gayle, the father of Reuter's baby.

They said Yang was secretly tape recorded in March 2009 confessing to a friend and provided details only the killer would know.

Defense attorneys have countered that police put their entire focus on Yang as a suspect early on in the investigation and failed to investigate others who may have been responsible for the crimes, Gayle included.

Associate Judge Christopher Stride was questioning potential jurors from a special pool of 80 brought in for the Yang trial individually, instead of the usual practice of questioning jurors in groups of four.

Stride and the lawyers were was asking jurors about their knowledge of the case and their ability to evaluate witness' testimony without regard for celebrity.

Potential jurors were told that the trial is expected to last two to three weeks and there is a possibility it could go into a fourth week.

While in the courtroom, jurors were referred to by the numbers assigned to them by the jury commission and no references were made to where in Lake County they live.

A total of 14 potential jurors were screened on Tuesday, and officials believe jury selection will last at least two more days.

In addition to barring the jurors from learning about the case through the traditional newspaper, television and radio media, Stride tipped his hat to new technology in his admonishments.

He reminded all the seated jurors and those who have yet to be screened that they are not to post anything about their involvement in the case on any Facebook, MySpace or twitter accounts.