SALEM, Mass. (AP) – A jury will be chosen to hear the case of Philip Chism, a Massachusetts teenager accused of raping and killing his math teacher.
Chism, who’s being tried as an adult, was 14 when he was charged in the 2013 death of 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer, a teacher at Danvers High School.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Essex Superior Court in Salem.
Ritzer’s body was found in woods near the school. Prosecutors say she’d been raped and her throat had been slit with a box cutter.
Defense attorneys have said they plan to use a mental health defense, but haven’t revealed specifics.