If 27-year-old Ricardo Martinez-Mendez is convicted on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide, he will face a mandatory term of life in prison.
His trial got underway Monday with jury selection.
Martinez-Mendez is accused of shooting Jarvis Gladney to death last September because Gladney made derogatory comments about the defendant’s girlfriend.
He says he got mad and pulled out his gun. When Gladney grabbed his neck, he pushed him to the floor and shot him in the chest.
Martinez-Mendez was arrested after refusing to come out of a home for more than four hours.
