MAYVILLE – A Chautauqua County jury is struggling to make a verdict in the trial of an Ellicott man charged in the death of his stepfather.

On Friday around 2 p.m., the 12-member group sent a note saying they are “deadlocked” in the trial of Tucker Richard, 20, who shot and killed Scott Blake on Jan. 6, 2023.

The trial began Oct. 21, following four days of jury selection. Deliberation began Thursday and continued Friday.

At the time of the note, Judge David Foley said it was too soon to declare a mistrial. “They have not had this case for what I consider a significant amount of time,” he said in court before the jury was brought back in.

Richard has been charged with second-degree murder. Foley told the jury before deliberations began that they could consider the lesser charge criminally negligent homicide if they felt that Richard was not guilty of second-degree murder.

When the jury was back in the courtroom, Foley asked them to continue deliberating. “It’s not uncommon for a jury to have difficulty initially reaching a unanimous verdict,” he said.

Foley encouraged them to review the facts of the case with a fresh mind to see if the evidence leads to the suspect being guilty or not. “Make every effort possible to make a fair and just verdict,” he said.

When the jury sent the note they had been deliberating for about six and a half hours total over two days.

They continued until around 4:40 p.m. when they requested to break for the weekend.

On Friday during deliberations, the jury requested 27 different photos for further review, as well as part of the testimony of Dr. Tara Mahar from the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office be read back. They specifically asked for when she discussed the stab wound discovered on Blake’s body.

The reading of her testimony took about 15 minutes.

They had also requested the judge go over the definitions again of second-degree murder, criminally negligent homicide and the term “initial aggressor,” referring to self defense.

The defense has not disagreed that Richard killed Blake, however they have stated he did it out of fear of his own life.

During the trial the defense alleged that Blake kicked in Richard’s bedroom door, hit him with an unloaded shotgun, causing it to break, at which time Richard stabbed Blake. Blake then ran downstairs to get another gun and Richard got it away from him and shot him after Blake tried to retrieve a third gun on the couch.

The prosecution has argued that Richard may have “cut up” Blake’s gun, which caused Blake and Richard to get into a yelling argument. They then allege that Richard pulled Blake’s shirt up over his head, stabbed him and shot him at close range outside the house.

They also allege that Richard pulled another gun out of a closet to stage the scene, so he could say his stepfather was trying to get another weapon to shoot him.

The prosecution based their arguments on the hole where Blake’s shirt was cut and where Blake was stabbed, as well as the lack of bird shot recovered from inside the house.

They also note that Blake’s blood was found on the gun on the couch.

The jury will resume deliberations Tuesday.