Canton lawyer Wesley Evans expects a battle defending Earnest Lee Hargon against charges he killed three members of his family, including a 4-year-old boy.

Jury selection will be paramount to his defense — at least for a potential sentencing phase — he said, as the prosecution angles to hold on to jurors who favor the death penalty.

"Any time you have a death of child, you are going to have a lot more people predisposed to the death penalty, and that's something that we're going to have to look out for," said Evans, who is court-appointed.

District Attorney James Powell has tried at least four capital murder cases in Yazoo County since he took office in 1996, but none has resulted in the death penalty. This time jurors will be selected in Marshall County, in an effort to find a panel that hasn't been exposed to pre-trial publicity, and transported to Yazoo.

Marshall County jurors rarely have heard a capital murder case where the death sentence was sought. The last time a jury in the county handed down the death penalty was in 1997. That was the first time since the 1930s that a Marshall County jury had recommended a death sentence.

"And nobody looks at what these people did to get there," Powell said. "It's like the victims and the crimes themselves are forgotten and it becomes a personal and political issue.

Vaughan, a rural community north of Canton, became the focus of national attention last year when Michael Hargon, 27, a construction worker, Rebecca Hargon, 29, a physical therapy assistant, and their son, James Patrick, went missing from their home on Valentine's Day. Shell casings, drops of blood and their son's asthma medicine were left behind.

Their bodies were found in woods off Mississippi 37 in Covington County three weeks later. Authorities said Earnest Lee Hargon told them where the bodies were buried.

The family feared the worst in the 17-day search leading up to the discovery. They sobbed, stood vigil, passed out fliers and promised rewards for the family's safe return. Law enforcement bloodhounds scoured for clues.

Evans said the prosecution's strongest piece of evidence is a purported statement Hargon made to investigators, which Yazoo County Circuit Judge Jannie Lewis recently ruled would be allowed at trial. Earnest Lee Hargon testified he gave a law enforcement officer a statement with the hope it would prevent his wife from being prosecuted.

Powell expects jury selection to last about three days and hopes to have his case wrapped up by Saturday. He said his case will be heavy on direct evidence, such as eye witness testimony, confessions or DNA.

One family member said the Hargons still are overwhelmed by sadness and incomprehension. The family has been hit with one tragedy after another through the years.

A cousin of Michael Hargon, Nina Higgins, said she has no explanation for the string of tragedies in her family. Higgins, 67, of Beebe, Ark., said she is not sure whether she'll be able to attend the trial.

Like others in her family, she is still devastated and torn. "It's mixed emotions because even though he was not a blood relative, he was still considered a member of the family," she said.

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