Jury selection is underway for a man accused of killing a UNC professor on July 23, 2014.
The preliminary portion of the trial against Troy Arrington began Tuesday morning, more than 30 months after Feng Liu was robbed and beaten to death. Liu was a research professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Troy Arrington and Derrick Davis were ultimately charged in Liu’s death. But District Attorney Woodall said the two will be tried separately with Davis set to be tried at a later date.
Arrington has entered a not guilty plea to charges including first-degree murder and armed robbery.
Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour told potential jurors on Tuesday morning that the trial is expected to last until the middle of next week.
Woodall is not seeking the death penalty in this case. He has previously told WCHL that he does not believe North Carolina has an “effective death penalty” at this time. Woodall said he believes there are “extremely rare circumstances” where the death penalty would be appropriate but added that he doesn’t think North Carolina’s current law “is sufficient to ensure that we carry it our properly.”
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