[Trending News] Jury selection begins in Megan Boswell murder trial

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Jury selection for Megan Boswell’s murder trial began on Monday. Boswell is facing numerous charges, including several counts of murder, in the 2020 death of her 15-month-old daughter Evelyn Boswell.

Prosecutors and Boswell’s defense are attempting to seat a jury for the Sullivan County trial, which is expected to last for weeks.

News Channel 11’s team in the courtroom Monday learned that 1,600 jury questionnaires were sent out. Of those, roughly 20% were available for jury duty. Potential jurors will be individually screened and asked about their responses to the questionnaires.

The 17-part questionnaires asked potential jurors about their familiarity with prosecutors, Boswell’s attorney Gene Scott and both Boswell and her deceased daughter Evelyn.

Forty potential jurors were screened on Monday, and 17 were picked. Of those, 10 were women and seven were men. Numerous people were excused based on their answers, especially those who revealed they were extremely familiar with the case.

During the screenings, potential jurors were asked about their recent news consumption and if they had any preconceived beliefs about Boswell and the case. Several also seemed confused by the concept of the burden of proof that is on the state in order for Boswell to be convicted.

Scott also asked several people if they had already formed an opinion on whether Evelyn Boswell was unlawfully killed. He also asked them if they were open to the possibility that she could have died due to an accident or by natural causes.

Judge Jim Goodwin will also sequester the jury, and he said this will be the first time in 15-20 years that a jury has been sequestered in Sullivan County. A sequestered jury is housed in a hotel and remains isolated from outside influences during the entirety of the trial. Jurors will have limited access to their phones and channel restrictions will be set on their televisions once the trial begins.

Goodwin called sequestering the jury for such a length of time “the most onerous inconvenience I can ask of you.”

Goodwin stressed to those screened that he wanted to be sure the jury would base its verdict on what is said and proven in court.

Once a jury is finalized, the trial will begin the next day with opening statements.

News Channel 11 will provide daily coverage and updates of the trial. After the jury is selected, each day of the trial will be live-streamed on WJHL.com.

Boswell faces numerous charges in the death of her baby daughter, Evelyn, including one count of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder. She has also been charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances and 12 counts of false report.

Evelyn’s remains were found on a family member’s property in March 2020 after an AMBER Alert was issued the month before. Numerous searches were conducted while the alert was active.

Boswell is the only person who has been charged in relation to her 15-month-old daughter’s death. She has remained in jail since her initial arrest in late February 2020 when she was charged with one count of false report.

In August 2020, a grand jury indicted Boswell on 19 charges, including the two felony murder counts. She was later indicted on the first-degree murder charge in June 2024.