Marine Set To Stand Trial For UNT Student's Murder
DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) - A Marine from North Texas is set to go on trial Monday for the shooting death of a University of North Texas student on New Year's Day of last year. Jury selection started at the Denton County Courthouse as attorneys start to question a pool of 57 potential jurors.
Eric Johnson stands accused of murder. Police have stated that the 21-year-old Fort Worth native shot and killed UNT student Sara Mutschlechner. The 20-year-old college junior was acting as a designated driver, taking three friends home after a New Year's Eve party.
Mutschlechner was at an intersection about two miles away from the college campus when, police said, she and her friends got into an argument with some young men in an SUV. As the two vehicles drove off, investigators explained that someone in that SUV opened fire, hitting Mutschlechner in the head.
Johnson was arrested days later, at a Marine Corps air base in Yuma, Arizona. He has been sitting in jail ever since, held on a $1 million bail.
At the time, police said that the Fort Worth native admitted to being the shooter. The Denton Record Chronicle reported that prosecutors offered Johnson a plea bargain, but would not elaborate on what that entailed or why Johnson and his attorneys refused the deal.