McElfresh ordered a jury pool of 60 perspective jurors. The trial is scheduled to last all week and will take take place in a courtroom fitted with Plexiglas for safety during the pandemic.
In October, Romel Velasquez, 18, of Cincinnati, was sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a gun specification for his role in the shootout at Liberty Park on Yankee Road.
Velasquez shot Moody and was charged shortly after the shooting with murder, but that charge was dismissed when the investigation pointed to Moody as the person who allegedly killed Hill.
Velasquez confessed he had a gun and made a choice to go to this “zone of danger” with that gun after a social media announcement about a “big fight,” according to prosecutors.
Butler County Sheriff’s detectives and Fairfield Twp. police say the incident began with a the June 7 theft of Hill’s cellphone and cash in Fairfield Twp., and two groups met June 10 to fight in the park. Gunfire was reported about 10 p.m.
Moody remains housed in the Butler County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
In addition to Hill and Moody, Zyshaun Johnson, 19, of Cincinnati, also was shot, and he recovered.
Hill, a Fairfield High School graduate, planned to play football at Independence Community College in Kansas.
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