A juror was dismissed just before the start of the trial of Devin Morningstar for the beating and stabbing death of 18-year-old Baylee Wylie.
Justice Jack Walsh dismissed the juror on Oct., 19, after the Crown learned the juror’s daughter was in the same jail and same unit as a woman who is also charged with Wylie’s murder.
“What is troubling to me is the fact there is a potential tangible connection between Juror #2 and a co-accused in this case through her daughter,” said Walsh, during a Court of Queen’s Bench hearing at the time.
Morningstar is charged with arson and first-degree murder in Wylie’s death on Dec. 17, 2015. Two other people accused of the same offences, Tyler Noel, 19, and Marissa Shephard, 20, who will both stand trial later.
The 12-person jury in the Morningstar trial is now sequestered and deliberating on a verdict.