Bastrop, Tx–Jury selection began today in the capital murder case of Christopher Murray who is charged in the death of a three-year-old boy who was left in his care more than a year ago in a Paige area residence which the defendant shared with the child’s mother and grandmother
335th District Judge Reva Towslee Corbett is presiding over the trial which is expected to last about two weeks. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
The state is expected to argue that Murray, who was 23 at the time of his arrest, savagely beat the child so that bones were broken and internal organs damaged, causing his death. Criminal investigators have also said that the defendant, before being charged, offered more than one story to account for how the child was injured.
Defense lawyers, who may also offer expert medical testimony, are expected to argue that Murray, if guilty of anything, may be guilty of some lesser charge such as injury to a child or negligent homicide.
If convicted of capital murder, Murray will automatically be sentenced to life in prison. If convicted of some lesser crime, the jury will decide Murray’s sentence which could range from probation to 99 years in prison.