Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a 21-year-old Ohio man accused of driving his car into a crowd of people last year in a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that killed one woman, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
James Alex Fields Jr. is charged in the death of Heather Heyer, 32, during the Aug. 12, 2017, rally. Fields was arrested shortly after a Dodge Charger plowed into a crowd of demonstrators protesting a white nationalist gathering at Charlottesville's statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, WTVR reported. Heyer was killed and about 30 others were injured, the television station reported.
Fields is facing a first-degree murder charge and eight counts of assault, the Times-Dispatch reported.
Fields went before a judge Monday dressed in a suit and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge as well as other charges including aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding and hit-and-run/fail to stop.
A pool of 28 jurors was selected from more than 100 on Monday, WTVR reported. Judge Richard E. Moore said he intends to choose 16 jurors within the next two to three days. Four of those jurors will be alternates, the Times-Dispatch reported.
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