Jury selection in the capital murder trial of a Turkey man accused in the murder of a Hobbton High School student more than two years ago is scheduled to begin next month, according to court officials.

Lamar Demond Smith, 33, of Turkey, stands accused in the murder of 16-year-old Mercedes Lou Wilson, who sustained a single fatal gunshot wound in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2006. Wilson was struck down by gunfire outside the Sunoco convenience station on Sunset Avenue. Two others were also injured in the fatal shooting.

Smith is facing charges of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon intending to kill, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.

At the beginning of this year, the state announced its intentions to seek the death penalty for Smith, if he is convicted in the evidentiary portion of the trial. State prosecutors within the D.A.’s Office said at the time, the capital trial would was slated for January 2009.

The trial will come on the heels of another capital murder trial’s conclusion in late November, in which convicted killer Kenneth Mark Hartley was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the murders of his family.

Smith has repeatedly been denied bond in the case and has been behind bars awaiting trial since Oct. 2, 2006, the same day he was taken into custody in Raleigh in connection with the shooting. His apprehension came exactly a month after the Sunoco shooting.

In the years following the deadly shooting, state prosecutors have noted Smith’s criminal history and previous assault-related convictions. Alleged actions the night of Wilson’s murder also resulted in a “significant risk of death” to others, prosecutors said.

Attorneys for Smith have maintained there is limited factual basis for a case against their client and no physical evidence to tie Smith to the shooting. A previous motion by the defense to move the trial out of Sampson County was denied.