No verdict yet in trial of man accused in death of father-in-law
By Melody Brown-Peyton
Published in News on May 24, 2018 5:50 AM
Antaun Keith Smith
A Wayne County jury entered the second day of deliberations Wednesday, without reaching a verdict, in the first-degree murder trial of Antaun Keith Smith.
Smith, 27, is on trial for the 2014 murder of his father-in law, Walter Lee Jordan, whose body was found in a shallow grave in the back yard of a home in Dudley.
Smith could face life in prison, without parole, if convicted. The trial started last week, with jurors entering into deliberations Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the jury sent a note by mid-afternoon to Superior Court Judge Phyllis Gorham asking to hear more of a recorded telephone conversation between Smith and his wife, Lea Detrice Monroe Smith.
Smith's wife is also facing first-degree murder charges in the case.
In the recording, which was played in court, Smith told his wife repeatedly to get up and get dressed and leave the house.
"If you want your freedom you must leave now," he said.
The jury will reconvene today at 9:30 a.m.
Jordan was reported missing on Feb. 27, 2015, by his daughter and was said to have been last seen alive on Jan. 21, 2015. The investigation revealed that Jordan had been missing since mid-December.
Wayne County sheriff's deputies found Jordan's body in April 2015 at a home at 111 Boykin Drive.