For the first time in nearly a decade, a criminal defendant is going on trial on a charge of first degree murder in St. Joe.

Charles Coats is charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Jason Ginn on August 1, 2015. The first degree murder charge includes an alternative count of second-degree murder.
He is also charged with armed criminal action.

Jury selection got underway Tuesday in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Patrick Robb. Trial evidence is expected to wrap up Thursday or Friday.

A pool of 42 potential jurors filled Judge Robb’s courtroom Tuesday, as lawyers asked them about any possible predispositions they might have, or their personal experience with crime.

As we reported, witnesses told police the pair were arguing in the 300 block of South 15th Street. An autopsy indicated Ginn was hit four times in various parts of his body, and died from a gunshot wound to the head.

He was originally charged with second-degree murder, but an amended complaint upgraded that charge to first degree murder.

A first-degree murder charge is rare in Buchanan County. The last time one went to trial was in 2009. Orlando Cruz was found guilty in the 2009 killing-for-hire of 23-year-old Antonio Maravilla-Vargas. Cruz was sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder and 100 years for armed criminal action.