JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 25-year-old Mt. Vernon man will first be tried on two counts first-degree murder before he’s tried in a separate case for the lesser charge of leaving the scene of an accident.

Prosecutors decided in Jefferson County Court Wednesday to try Dewayne Moore on the more serious charges of murder before the lesser charge of leaving the scene of an accident that stemmed from a vehicle crash around the time Cortez Pickett was murdered in his Mt. Vernon home August 30.

A grand jury indicted Moore in March on first-degree murder charges in connection to the shooting death of Pickett.

A final pre-trial hearing in the case is set for 1:30 p.m. June 7 and the jury trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. June 14.