Jury selection starts for Oklahoma teen charged with murdering Australian

By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Jury selection started on Monday in the trial of an Oklahoma teenager who has been charged with murdering an Australian student on a local university's baseball team as he was jogging in the southern part of the state in 2013. About 400 prospective jurors were summoned for the trial of Chancey Luna, 17, who could face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted in the death of Christopher Lane, 23. Jury selection for the trial in Duncan, Oklahoma, could take about four days and then opening arguments would begin, the Duncan Banner newspaper reported trial sources as saying. Luna was 16 at the time of the killing. Along with James Edwards Jr., then 15, and Michael Jones, then 17, the trio are accused of shooting the Australian athlete for East Central University in the back as he was jogging along a residential road in Duncan. Jones pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March and was sentenced to life in prison. He is eligible for parole in 38 years. After the arrests, Edwards struck a deal with the prosecution to testify against Luna in exchange for having his murder charge reduced. Edwards has told the court in pre-trial hearings that Jones was driving and Luna fired the gun from the back seat of the car. Jones told authorities after his arrest that he and Luna shot Lane because "they were bored." Luna's trial could last up to 10 days, court officials said. (Writing by Jon Herskovitz)