July 6, 1999
Web posted at: 9:11 p.m. EDT (0111 GMT)

BARTOW, Florida (CNN) -- Opening statements will begin Wednesday morning in the trial of a teen-age boy accused of killing his next-door neighbor, an 8-year-old girl whose body was found under his mattress.

It took roughly nine hours Tuesday to select a jury panel of 14, including two alternates. Two women and 12 men were selected. The trial is expected to last about one week.

The defendant, Joshua Phillips, 15, is charged with first-degree murder. He appeared in court dressed in a dark suit and tie and wearing wire-rimmed glasses -- in marked contrast to his wardrobe at a preliminary hearing -- orange jailhouse jumpsuit, shackles and handcuffs.

He is being tried as an adult, accused of stabbing and beating to death a neighbor child, Maddie Clifton, in Jacksonville, Florida, last November.

Her disappearance sparked a massive search, not only by police, family and friends -- but also by the murder suspect himself.

A full week after she disappeared, the young girl's body was found hidden under the mattress of Phillips' waterbed. Police said Phillips' mother noticed fluid seeping from her son's bed.

The sheriff described the girl's body as being entombed.

"There was clothing put around the corners and on the back to make certain the odor stayed in," said Jacksonville Sheriff Nathaniel Glover last November.

A knife and baseball bat were also recovered from the suspect's home by investigators. An autopsy showed the girl had been beaten over the head and stabbed nine times in the chest and twice in the neck.

Boy hasn't confessed to charge, lawyer says

Authorities have said Phillips has confessed to killing his neighbor, but Phillips' attorney tells CNN his client's statement to police does not constitute a confession to first-degree murder.

Phillips -- who was 14 at the time of the alleged killing -- will not face the death penalty if convicted of premeditated murder. Under Florida law, that sentence cannot be imposed on anyone younger than 16.

Because of pre-trial publicity, the trial was moved 200 miles southwest of Jacksonville to Bartow, a town of about 15,000 in Polk County, Florida.

Correspondent Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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