A Durham County judge on Tuesday said the trial against a man accused of the 2022 murder of Shawn Burton will not continue.
In court on Tuesday, the judge declared a mistrial after 12 jury members could not return a verdict against Darrius Tyson. Tyson was one of three men charged in Burton's death, who disappeared in 2022. While investigators found Burton's truck with blood in it, they never found his body.
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A family member of Burton told WRAL News that they thought Tuesday would end with closure, but are now left searching for answers.
"I'm not happy with this verdict," the family member said. ""We are grieving as a family and have no further comment."
Tyson was arrested in May of 2022 for kidnapping; he was then indicted for murder in February 2023. Prosecutors said Ring doorbell camera footage from Duke Street the night Burton went missing showed him using a key to get into the building with three men behind him holding guns.
They argued that one of those three men was Tyson.
Two other defendants, Tariq Henderson and Brentley Yancey, have also been indicted for murder in this case.
Durham County prosecutors will now have to decide if they will retry the case or if they will try and work out a plea agreement. Daniel Meier, Tyson's attorney, said they plan to speak with the judge to ask for a bond hearing while they wait for the District Attorney's decision.