Jury selected in vehicular homicide case

Jurors were selected Monday in Washington County Court to hear testimony in the case of Tyler Buck Belford, who was charged in connection with a crash Jan. 3, 2015, that killed a Monongahela resident.
Donna Simboli, 58, was a passenger in a compact car that was struck at Brownlee Road and Route 136, Somerset Township. She was to be taken to a Pittsburgh hospital but she was pronounced dead in an ambulance in the helicopter landing zone. Volunteer firefighters from three companies responded to the call for assistance. Christopher Weber, 46, the driver of the car, was treated at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, and Belford, who was driving a truck for a Marcellus gas company, was treated at Washington Hospital for minor injuries.
Belford, 36, of Belle Vernon, has been free on an unsecured $20,000 bond since his arrest in April 2016. Representing him is attorney Gary E. Gerson of Pittsburgh. Assistant District Attorney Leslie Ridge is prosecuting the case.
Twelve jurors and two alternates were chosen Monday to hear the case.
Testimony from potentially 10 witnesses, including a state police accident reconstruction specialist, is scheduled to begin next week. Judge Michael Lucas cautioned the jurors not to read or listen to accounts of the trial in the news or on social media or to conduct research during the interim or during the trial.