The State - News from June 30, 1988

The jury in the Shawn Melton kidnap-murder case announced it was deadlocked, voting 7 to 5 to acquit the former security guard in the killing of a 6-year-old Vallejo boy. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Dwight C. Ely dismissed the seven-man, five-woman panel after the members said there was no chance of reaching a unanimous verdict. There was no immediate indication from Solano County Deputy Dist. Atty. John Coffer that authorities planned to seek a retrial. Melton, 26, was charged with the abduction, molestation and strangulation of Jeremy Stoner, who disappeared Feb. 21, 1987. The boy’s nude body was found four days later in the Sacramento Delta.