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Melissa Scholl Retrial Underway; Son Takes Stand

WILKES-BARRE — Melissa Scholl has been here before: on trial in Luzerne County Court accused of trying to kill herself and her two young children. Her fir...

WILKES-BARRE -- Melissa Scholl has been here before: on trial in Luzerne County Court accused of trying to kill herself and her two young children.

Her first trial in June ended with a deadlocked jury and a mistrial.

Her retrial began this week and opening statements were made Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators say in December of 2015, Scholl took a hose from her exhaust pipe and fed it into her car with her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in the backseat.

A passerby in Wilkes-Barre Township pulled the hose out and reported the vehicle wasn't running.

During opening statements, Scholl's defense attorney told jurors this case was based on sloppy police work. He wanted the charges dismissed, but the judge wouldn't budge on that.

The first witness was Scholl's son, Julian, now 9 years old.

Jurors listened as the boy said he heard his mother call her own mom that night in December, telling her she was going to kill herself and asking her to come get the children.

Scholl's son said his mom didn't want to raise kids alone.

"She said she wanted to kill herself, so she called my grandma to pick us up. She didn't want to harm us in any way."

When asked if his mom would hurt him, he answered, "No, she loves me and I love her."

Then jurors watched a taped interview with Julian Scholl from 2015 where he called his mom his "dream girl" because "…she is very beautiful and she makes good decisions."

He described his mom telling him that night, "…she said this might be the last kiss and hug that I give you…I'll always remember you."

There is a gag order in effect for the duration of the trial, meaning attorneys cannot comment on the case.

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