Jury selected in trial for Marion County teen slaying

Siblings Kyle Hooper, Amber Wright to stand 1 trial, 2 juries

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – The trial for the two siblings charged in connection to the slaying of a Marion County teen will likely start on Wednesday.

Kyle Hooper, 17, and his sister, Amber Wright, 16, will be tried together in the same courtroom, but with two separate juries.

They are both accused of taking part in the murder of 15-year-old Seath Jackson, who was beaten and shot to death in 2011.

Wright, Jackson's ex-girlfriend, was in court on Tuesday as six jurors were selected for her trial. Wright's brother, Hooper, had his six jurors selected on Monday. The two separate juries will hear much of a same evidence, but on a few occasions, one jury may be asked to step outside while witnesses talk about the other defendant, according to the state attorney's office.

Authorities say Wright and a friend sent text messages to Jackson to lure him to a Summerfield home, where three other men allegedly beat, tied up and shot the teen. Arrest reports say Jackson's body was burned, and his remains were placed into paint cans and tossed into a limestone pit.

A Marion County judge sentenced one of the other five co-defendants in Seath's murder, 21-year-old Justin Soto, last week after he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Still facing first-degree murder charges in addition to Hooper and Wright is 20-year-old Michael Bargo, who authorities identified as the shooter. The fifth suspect, 19-year-old Charlie Kay Ely, received a life sentence last fall.

Watch Local 6 for more on this story.


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