A jury in Columbiana County was set to begin hearing testimony Wednesday in the case of a suspect charged with murdering a woman at her Salem Township home and wounding her then 5-year-old son almost a decade ago, but has been postponed.

 

The law offices of attorney Paul Conn tell 21 News that testimony will now begin Tuesday, October 12 because of COVID-19 related concerns regarding someone involved with the trial.

 

"She was a very sweet individual," David Todd says of his daughter Melinda, who died in 2012. "She tried to do for others."

 

Eight years after the brutal beating that killed her, David is left to reflect not only on his memories of her but his quest for justice.

 

Jury selection began Tuesday in Kirby's trial. He is accused of killing Melinda, and leaving her five-year-old grandson - shot and beaten - for dead.

 

"Is that justice?" pondered David Todd. "He (Kirby) didn't give her a chance to come home again...he took her."

When we asked him why anyone could've or would've done that, he said "I don't know."

 

David and his wife Linda don't know how the child - named Cole - is doing.

They say they've been left out of his life.

One reason David says he won't be going to witness Kirby's trial.

 

We asked him if, once the trial is over, that he'll finally get some semblance of peace or closure, to which he replied "with our legal system today I just have to be satisfied with what they do."

 

And while nothing can bring Melinda, affectionately known as Mindy, back among the rest of us, her father takes solace in the sweet memories she left behind.

 

"Mindy's gone but she's not gone because she's not forgotten," he said. 

 

Kirby faces two charges of aggravated murder, one charge of attempted murder, and one charge of tampering with evidence.