Jury selection starts in retrial for Melton Road shooting
Jury selection began Tuesday for the retrial of a man in the Melton Road shooting.
Paul Sloat, 29, of East Chicago, is accused of shooting a trucker in the chest on Aug. 22, 2022, as his father tried to stop the driver from taking off. The men said the tractor-trailer had just clipped their rearview mirror.
Judge Gina Jones declared a mistrial in August after a woman said she told other jurors she couldn’t be “fair and impartial” and would miss an appointment that week, attorney Scott King previously said.
Sloat is charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, battery with a deadly weapon and battery resulting in serious bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty.
He believed he was protecting his father, King argued.
An affidavit alleges Sloat was turning onto 5100 Melton Road when the truck driver drove around them and ripped off the rearview mirror.
Sloat’s father, the passenger, told him to “go get the truck” to get the license number. About a half-mile east, near Lake Street and Melton Road, the two men got out and confronted the driver at a red light.
The tractor-trailer driver, then 64, said he had no contact with the men. When the father came to the taxi, he tried to leave. Sloat jumped on the taxi and fired about five shots, according to the driver.
One of them hit him in the chest and lodged in his shoulder. He went to an INDOT building at 7601 Melton Road for help. The driver later denied following too closely and did not realize he may have hit the rearview mirror.
The confrontation was filmed.
Assistant District Attorney Judy Massa is appointed.
mcolias@post-trib.com
