CHARLOTTE — Prosecutors in the murder trial of a NoDa business owner will get to use another deadly shooting as evidence.
Steven Staples and Terry Conner are accused of killing two people in north Charlotte a month after investigators said they killed one of the owners of Brooks’ Sandwich House in 2019.
Jury selection is now underway in the murder case of beloved business owner Scott Brooks.
“Jury selection is paramount to any case that you do,” said Yolanda Trotman, defense attorney and former Mecklenburg County District Court judge.
She’s not a part of the trial but is aware of the high-profile case against Conner and Staples.
They are accused of robbing and shooting Brooks to death at about 4:45 a.m. on Dec. 9, 2019, as he was preparing to open Brooks’ Sandwich House.
The two men are being tried together, which is something Trotman said will make jury selection crucial.
“Both sides want someone who can make sure that they don’t have the preconceived notions,” Trotman said.
Prosecutors may look for jurors who may be more sympathetic with a victim of a crime or officers on the stand, she said.
“Most defense attorneys don’t want somebody who is going to make a decision more so based on sympathy,” Trotman said.
Jury selection comes as Judge Lou Trosch ruled Tuesday morning that prosecutors can talk about a deadly double shooting from January 2020, which was 32 days after Brooks was killed.
Criminal past
The suspects have extensive criminal backgrounds and are connected to several homicides.
Staples, at 18 years old, carjacked a public works truck and trailer before crashing and taking off. Staples and his buddies were arrested after that for kicking in hundreds of doors across Charlotte.
An armed robbery sent Staples to prison in 2010. He was released in 2016.
In December 2019, Staples went on a killing spree, investigators said.
Brooks was killed on Dec. 9, 2019.
Shortly after, investigators said Staples became a suspect in the Dec. 23, 2019, slaying of Anthony Leakes in Charlotte.
Staples and Conner, whom detectives called “partners in crime” were also charged in a double homicide involving Asa Shannon and Siojvon Joseph, who were found dead in an SUV along Atando Avenue on Jan. 11, 2020. Both were shot in the head. The home they were associated with was ransacked and burglarized.
Judge Trosch said Tuesday the crimes on Atando Avenue and at Brooks’ Sandwich House shared a similar motive, which was getting quick cash and allegedly killing to avoid being identified.
The suspects’ defense attorneys hope the other case would not be allowed in as evidence, but it will be.
Staples pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing a man in Hickory on Jan. 23, 2020, and is currently in prison for that.
In the Brooks’ murder case, jury selection continues Wednesday.
VIDEO: Both suspects to be tried together in Brooks’ Sandwich House murder case
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