Mistrial in case of teenager accused of murdering his sister

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a teenager on trial in the death of his 12-year-old sister.

Marquel Solomon, 16, has been charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of Malayshia Solomon.

After four hours of deliberation and more than three hours of deliberation on Thursday, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict and the judge declared the trial void.

Prosecutor Bethany Harrison attempted to prove that Marquel Solomon committed manslaughter through criminal negligence. Prosecutors called several police officers who were on the scene and presented bodycam video and a social media post showing that there were at least two firearms in the house without any safety devices. A key witness named Rayvon Glenn testified that he saw Marquel point one of those guns at another person in the house and reach for the tip of the gun in fear. But at that moment, a shot went off and Malaysia was killed.

The defense tried to argue that the evidence presented by the prosecution was circumstantial and that the gun would not have gone off if Glenn had not grabbed it, but neither of these arguments was strong enough for a unanimous jury verdict.

The judge has ordered Marquel's trial to be postponed until September; his mother, who is also accused in the case, will appear in court in December.

This is a developing story; stay with WDBJ7 for updates.

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