By Tiffany Flournoy

Jury selection concluded Monday in Webster Parish for a Sibley man accused of beating his father to death with a baseball bat nearly a decade ago.

Jonconnor Joiner, 32, bearded and wearing a white short-sleeve polo shirt, dark jeans and white sneakers, faces a second-degree murder charge in the 26th Judicial District Court in connection with the 2016 death of his father, 57-year-old Billy Jack Joiner Jr.

Twelve jurors and two alternates were selected by late afternoon.

During court Monday, Joiner sat beside his attorney, Mary Ellen Halterman, as jurors were questioned. He occasionally shifted in his seat and at times looked toward prospective jurors or down at the table in front of him.

Assistant District Attorney Hugo Holland spent most of the day questioning prospective jurors and reviewing the definition of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction. Halterman conducted more limited but thorough questioning. It took three panels before a jury was selected shortly before 4:30 p.m. A handful of the victim’s family members were present throughout the proceedings.

Judge Parker Self presided.

The case stems from May 2016, when authorities say a Sibley police officer discovered Billy Jack Joiner Jr., Jonconnor Joiner’s father, inside a home on Frazier Road while attempting to notify him about a loose donkey. Investigators said the front door was partially open and the victim was found inside.

Joiner was arrested May 13, 2016, after he reportedly confessed to beating his father to death with a baseball bat two days earlier, on May 11, 2016.

The case was reportedly delayed after a court-appointed sanity commission determined Joiner was not competent to stand trial or assist in his defense. He was committed to the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson until later being found competent to proceed.