Still no decision from Turell Jury

TRENTON – The jury in the Ivelis Turell murder case could not reach a verdict again Monday, despite more than 18 hours of deliberation starting last Wednesday. In a note to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez just after noon, the jury said it has deliberated a “significant’’ amount of hours and hadn’t been … Read more →

Turell murder case goes to jury

TRENTON — A jury of nine women and three men is deliberating the fate of Ivelis Turell, on trial for the shooting murder of the father of her two sons on April 30, 2007. After four alternate jurors — all men — were culled out, the remaining 12 started deliberations shortly after 3 p.m., following … Read more →

Cop: Ballistics squad wiped prints from Turell murder weapon

TRENTON — The defense rested Tuesday morning after getting a detective to admit no fingerprints could be lifted from the gun that killed Michael Whitaker because the weapon has been cleaned with hydrogen peroxide. But don’t look at Ivelis Turell, on trial for Whitaker’s murder, as the cleaner of the 9mm Ruger. State police Detective … Read more →

Ivelis Turell takes the stand in her own defense

TRENTON — A tearful Ivelis Turell took the stand yesterday to defend herself against murder charges by telling of life with two little boys and a boyfriend fascinated by a gun that ended up killing him. “I was like, ‘Mike, I love you,’ ” she testified in a cracking voice to telling victim Mike Whitaker … Read more →

Judge refuses to throw out murder case against Ivelis Turell

TRENTON – A judge has refused to toss out the murder case against Ivelis Turell, ruling against defense arguments that the prosecution didn’t prove its case against the suspected boyfriend shooter. Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez made the decision after Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman rested the state’s case and defense lawyer Steve Slaven … Read more →

Murder victim easily bought the weapon that killed him

TRENTON — Mike Whitaker, slain in a domestic violence incident, purchased the apparently hair-triggered gun that killed him under Pennsylvania’s easy rules for getting deadly weapons. Ivelis Turell, charged with killing him, said in an audio tape played in court Thursday that Whitaker showed his Pennsylvania driver license and had no trouble coming home with … Read more →

Another cop says Turell admitted shooting her boyfriend

By Paul Mickle TRENTON – Another Trenton cop testified today that Ivelis Turell admitted to him that she shot her boyfriend after blaming her six-year-old son for the fatal gunning on April 30, 2007. Detective Scott Peterson said Turell made the admission at a city hospital not long after telling him from the stoop of … Read more →

Ivelis Turell murder trial begins

By PAUL MICKLE TRENTON – Ivelis Turell told the first cop on the scene her six-year-old son Eddie had shot and killed her boyfriend when the man’s silver 9 mm Ruger accidentally went off the night of April 30, 2007. A former Trenton street cop told the story in court yesterday soon after the jury … Read more →

Jury selection may finally end in Turell case

By PAUL MICKLE TRENTON — Both sides think a jury will finally be selected in time to start opening arguments Friday in the trial of a camera-shy mom claiming she killed her boyfriend in self-defense. In the fourth day of a search for 12 jurors and two alternates, the judge ordered another few dozen potential … Read more →

Jury selection continues in case against Ivelis Turell

By PAUL MICKLE pmickle@trentonian.com TRENTON — Another 50 prospects were brought Tuesday afternoon in a bid to find the last few jurors for the trial of a long abused woman claiming she killed her boyfriend in self-defense. Soon after they were brought before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro Jiminez, most members of the jury … Read more →

Turell doesn’t want kids to see her face in the paper

By PAUL MICKLE pmickle@trentonian.com TRENTON — Ivelis Turell, on trial for allegedly shooting her boyfriend to death, doesn’t want her kids to see her picture in the newspapers. She would not cooperate Thursday morning even after a judge gave The Trentonian permission to get photos of her in the courtroom while the jury was not … Read more →

Turell murder trial begins Wednesday

TRENTON — Jury selection starts Wednesday in the case of the woman who already has convinced one judge it was self-defense when she fatally shot her boyfriend and took a bullet to the shoulder in a struggle with him in 2007. Ivelis Turell, of the 200 block of Ferry Street, has been indicted twice on … Read more →

Trial postponed in 2007 homicide case

TRENTON – Ivelis Turell, whose trial for allegedly killing her boyfriend in 2007 finally started Monday, has won another legal delay, this time so an appeals court can decide if she can change her mind again about her lawyer. With jury selection underway, the suspect asked Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro Jiminez if she … Read more →

Ivelis Turell

Suspected in the May 2, 2007 death of Michael Whitaker.