Jury selection underway for 2 second-degree murder trials in Caddo

CADDO PARISH, La. (KSLA) - Caddo District Court has begun jury selection for two second-degree murder trials.

One of the trials is for the man accused of killing 5-year-old Mya Patel. Joseph Lee Smith, 35, of Shreveport, faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated and obstruction of justice in connection to Patel’s death.

According to the district attorney’s office, Patel was playing near a window in a hotel room in March of 2021 when she was struck in the head by a stray bullet. She was taken to the hospital, where she died days later.

[RELATED: Months after 5-year-old Mya Vimal Patel died, grand jury indicts man who allegedly fired the bullet that killed her]

The second trial is in connection to the deaths of 29-year-old Lee’Jerryius Baines and 22-year-old Chasmine Walters, both of Shreveport. Trevarious Letren Winslow, 27, of Natchitoches, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Baines was fatally shot in the head during a bar fight June 9, 2019, in the 200 block of Texas Street. Walters was critically injured in the same incident and died the next day.

[RELATED: 5 indicted over 4 slayings; 6th person faces sex crimes]

Copyright 2023 KSLA. All rights reserved.