Live-in boyfriend on trial for murdering 2-year-old boy (Bloutville, Tennessee)

Live-in boyfriend SHAWN ANTHONY MULLINS is on trial for the murder of his ex-girlfriend's two-year-old son.

http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/jury_selection_underway_in_sullivan_county_toddler_murder_trial/28309/

Jury Selection Underway in Sullivan County Toddler Murder Trial

By Josh Smith
Anchor / WJHLPublished: July 7, 2009

Attorneys in Blountville, Tennessee will spend today interviewing potential jurors for a first degree murder case.

Shawn Anthony Mullins, 27, will soon be tried on a first degree murder charge in connection to the March, 2005 death of Christopher David Smith, age 2, the son of his live-in girlfriend at the time.

According to court records, the state of Tennessee plans to purse the death penalty in the case.

Investigators said Mullins physically abused the boy before his death on March 30, 2005 when the child’s mother found him inside a home on Robin Lane.

Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood is presiding over the trial.

According to a clerk at the Sullivan County Courthouse, attorneys expect to spend all day today choosing potential jury members.