The murder trial of a Pittsboro man started today in Calhoun County Circuit Court.
Jury selection and opening arguments were held in the trial of Frankie Jones, 27, charged in the death of Billy Ray Covington.
Frankie Jones
Covington was discovered dead of multiple gunshot wounds July 11, 2015. He was found on the side of CR 308 in the Gauley community by passers-by around 10:30 a.m.
Pollan said Covington had gotten into a vehicle with Jones and Ashley Hobson, who was charged with accessory after the fact.
Pollan said they began to argue in the vehicle which turned into a physical altercation at the site of the murder, and Jones pulled the gun on Covington and began to shoot.
Jones was indicted by the grand jury that October and remained in the Calhoun County Jail until last August when he pled guilty to prior charges against him for sale and possession of cocaine not related to the murder and was taken into custody by MDOC.
Pollan said Jones had been an MDOC inmate in Rankin County until this week, when we was brought here for trial.
Hobson remains in the Calhoun County Jail.
Pollan said he expected the trial to last a couple of days.