Jury selection scheduled today in Wellsville murder case

Jeno Wall

LISBON Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the murder trial of a Steubenville man accused of a fatal shooting last year in Wellsville.

Jeno Wall, 34, faces charges of aggravated murder, murder, intimidation of a witness, and two firearm specifications. The charges stem from the Sept. 9, 2024, shooting of Robert E. Herron, 30.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan L. Bickerton is presiding over the trial.

According to court documents, Wellsville police responded to a report of shots fired on 10th Street and found Herron wounded behind a garage. He was transported to a hospital, where he died the next day.

Wall's defense attorneys, Carl Joseph King and Charley Kidder, filed a motion on Monday requesting that the court conduct a jury view at the 18th Street Boat Ramp. The filing did not specify the reason for the request.

In a separate ruling earlier this month, Judge Bickerton rejected a defense motion to exclude a witness's photo lineup identification of Wall.

Wall’s attorneys argued that police methods, including the use of a single photo followed by a photo lineup, were suggestive and violated their client’s due process rights.

In a judgment entry filed Sept. 10, Judge Bickerton denied the motion. The court's decision noted that the witness had prior interactions with Wall and saw him shoot Herron.

The judge found that while the initial use of a single photograph was suggestive, the identification was reliable because the witness knew Wall. She also ruled that the photo lineup, despite not being conducted by a "blind administrator," was not impermissibly suggestive.

Bickerton cited a 2017 appeals court case with similar facts in her decision.