Teen murder trial: Jury starts deliberations

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (WNYT)- The fate of Raymond Wright Jr. is in the hands of a jury. Jurors heard three more hours of closing arguments Friday, October 30 as both sides gave sharply different accounts of how Samantha Humphrey died. After seven days of testimony with several hours of audio and video recordings and more than 40 witnesses, lawyers summed up their cases. The defense argued Humphrey died by suicide, while the prosecution argued she was not suicidal and that Wright was homicidal. The case began four years ago when Wright and Humphrey, both 14 at the time, went to Riverside Park late at night to discuss their relationship and Humphrey s possible pregnancy. They argued and fought, and Wright testified he punched Humphrey in the nose and pushed her into the Mohawk River, but denied killing her. Samantha suffered and was diagnosed with serious mental illness. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder from a life of abandonment by her mother. post-traumat