The trial of Patrick Parnel, charged with first degree murder in the death of his newborn daughter in Ocean Shores in April of 2013, got under way Tuesday in Grays Harbor Superior Court.
It took all day to seat a jury. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.
Parnel, 23, allegedly killed his newborn daughter after he helped his girlfriend give birth to the baby in an Ocean Shores motel room. An autopsy revealed the baby was alive at the time of birth and also found evidence of severe blunt force trauma to the infant’s head. Prosecutors allege that Parnel hit the baby with a tire iron before leaving the child in the bushes where a jogger in Ocean Shores found her the next morning.
Parnel’s girlfriend, Brittany Taylor, was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree abandonment of a dependent person in 2013.
The jury selection process lasted from early Tuesday morning until a selection of 14 jurors, 12 with two alternates, was made around 4:30 in the afternoon. Chief Criminal Deputy Katie Svoboda said the two extra jurors are backups in case any member of the jury cannot sit in on the case during the next three days. The trial is scheduled for four days, and is expected to continue through Friday. Svoboda and interim Grays Harbor County Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Fuller are prosecuting the case. Attorney Robert Quillian is representing Parnel.
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