John Dwight Phillips appears before Judge William T. Boyett in Murray County, Ga., Superior Court on Monday for jury selection. Phillips is charged with homicide in the beating death of his mother's boyfriend, Tommy Walraven, during a drunken argument on Christmas day last year.CHATSWORTH, Ga. -- The trial of the Murray County man accused of beating his mother's boyfriend to death last Christmas begins this morning.
John Dwight Phillips, then 29, told investigators in December that 63-year-old Tommy Randall Walraven pressed a shotgun to his gut during a drunken argument. Phillips said he fought back, punching Walraven in the face several times.
Walraven collapsed on the couch, but neither Phillips nor his mother -- Terri Lynn Welch -- called police for about six hours. When they did, investigators found Walraven on the couch, unconscious, bleeding from his mouth and his nose. Doctors took him off life support the next day.
In May, a Murray County grand jury indicted Phillips on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Phillips appeared in court Monday as his lawyer, Rex Abernathy, and Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bert Poston selected a jury for the trial. Both lawyers expect to finish the case by Wednesday afternoon.
In front of Superior Court Judge William T. Boyett, the attorneys asked prospective jurors a series of questions.
They asked local residents if they were related to Phillips, Walraven, Welch or any of the investigators who handled the case. They asked where the prospective jurors worked. They asked where their spouses worked. They asked if the men and women had heard anything about the case, on the news or in the community.
Abernathy polled the prospective jurors about their stance on self-defense.
"How many of you own firearms?" he asked.
Most of the men and women raised their hands.
"Those of you who don't own firearms," Abernathy said, "any of you have a strong opposition?"
Abernathy and Poston settled on a jury that will consist of eight women, four men and one female alternate.
Walraven's son, Nathan Gaddy, sat in the second row of the courtroom Monday morning. He has doubted Phillips' story ever since his father died. He told the Times Free Press in January that he didn't think his father would pull a shotgun on anybody, and he didn't think a 29-year-old man had to beat a 63-year-old to death in self- defense.
Gaddy was in the room when doctors took Walraven off life support. He said his father's head was so swollen that it swallowed his neck. He watched for 15 minutes as his father faded.
"I'm here," he told his dad. "I love you."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.