Superior Court Judge Perdo Jimenez dismissed the 12 jurors and two alternates with a warning not to discuss the case with anyone.
Exterior view of the new Mercer County Criminal Courthouse in Trenton on South Warren St, in Trenton, New Jersey.
TRENTON — After two full days of deliberation without coming to a verdict, the jury charged with deciding whether Ivelis Turell is guilty of murdering her live-in boyfriend in 2007 was sent home for the weekend.
Superior Court Judge Perdo Jimenez dismissed the 12 jurors and two alternates with a warning not to discuss the case with anyone. They will return next week to continue discussions.
The jurors heard a weeks-long trial about the shooting death of Michael Whitaker in which the state contends that Whitaker’s girlfriend and mother of his children, Turell, shot him in the chest after the two had an argument in which he threatened to leave her.
Turell, who took the witness stand to mount her own defense, claims that she was beaten and abused by Whitaker for years and the shooting was only an accident that occurred when she was trying to get the gun away from Whitaker after he had pointed it in her face.
Turell was also shot in the shoulder during the incident. She said she shot herself because she was distraught after she realized how badly Whitaker was wounded.
During the trial, Whitaker’s father testified, saying that his son called him shortly before the shooting to tell him that things were bad between him and Turell. He said his son had asked if he could come to his house for the night to get out of the house, but he never showed up. The following day, Whitaker’s father said he learned his son had been killed.
Police officers also testified that Turell’s story changed in the hours after the shooting. They said she first told them that her 6-year-old son was playing with Whitaker’s gun when it went off accidentally. Turell said she does not remember giving those statements to police.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.