Jury selection slow in murder trial

Little progress was made Wednesday in selecting a jury for the Marni Yang murder trial in Lake County Circuit Court.

Only one juror was chosen during the daylong session in which 19 prospective members of the panel were screened, raising the total number of jurors seated thus far in the process to six.

Yang, 43, of Chicago, is charged with the Oct. 6, 2007, slayings of Rhoni Reuter, 42, of Deerfield, and Reuter’s unborn daughter.

Police, who arrested Yang in March 2009 after they said they secretly tape recorded her confessing to a friend, said Yang killed Reuter because she was jealous of Reuter’s relationship with her baby’s father, former Chicago Bears safety Shaun Gayle.

Five jurors, all men, were chosen Tuesday and the juror selected on Wednesday was also a male.

A total of 33 prospective jurors have been screened across the two-day search for a panel of 12 jurors and three alternates.

People are being excused from service for a variety of reasons, including plans for out of town travel, needs of work or family and exposure to too much media coverage of the case.

Other jurors have been excused after saying they believed the graphic nature of details of the case would make it impossible for them to be impartial.

Associate Judge Christopher Stride has told everyone screened for a seat on the jury that he expects the trial to last two to three weeks and there is a possibility it could go into a fourth week.

Yang faces a possible life sentence if convicted of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child.