An auxiliary deputy sheriff in Pike County clocked the speed of Robert C. Rooker's pickup truck at 52 mph in a 45-mph zone late one night in March 2015, setting off a chain of events that ended with the unarmed Rooker shot to death inside his vehicle and another deputy accused of murder.

An auxiliary deputy sheriff in Pike County clocked the speed of Robert C. Rooker's pickup truck at 52 mph in a 45-mph zone late one night in March 2015, setting off a chain of events that ended with the unarmed Rooker shot to death inside his vehicle and another deputy accused of murder.

The trial of former deputy Joel Jenkins is set to begin in Pike County Common Pleas Court Monday. Jenkins, 32, of Waverly, is charged with murder and reckless homicide in Rooker's death. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

The Ohio attorney general's office is prosecuting the trial, which isn't the only criminal case that Jenkins has lingering. After he had returned to work at the sheriff's office after the pursuit - while the state's investigation into Rooker's death was ongoing - he shot and killed a neighbor.

On Dec. 3, 2015, Jenkins was off-duty when he called the sheriff's office administrative line about 11:30 p.m. and said, "There's been an accidental discharge at my house. My neighbor, umm, he's down. You guys are going to have to get here ASAP."

Authorities responded and found Jason Brady, 40, shot in the head. Prosecutors said Jenkins had been drinking. He told detectives he had been showing Brady a gun and that the shooting was an accident.

He was arrested and a Pike County grand jury charged him a week later in Rooker's death and also with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and tampering with evidence for Brady's. Jenkins has pleaded not guilty to those charges, too, and a trial is scheduled for later this year.

He posted his bond and has been free while awaiting trial.

His attorney, Mark C. Collins, said he is aware that a case of a police officer charged with the murder of a suspect - especially now - will draw the public's attention.

"The climate out in society right now is ever-changing about the actions of police officers," Collins said. But he said Jenkins was afraid for his own life that night after a high-speed pursuit that covered at least 15 miles of mostly unlit, narrow roads through the Pike County hills before ending along a creek bed on a dead-end gravel road. Collins said jurors will see that Jenkins' actions were reasonable given the situation.

"He is focused on getting through this trial and trying to convey to the jurors what actually happened," Collins said. "Any time you discharge your service weapon it is a traumatic experience. This has all been difficult."

Authorities have never said how many times Rooker was shot and incident reports that have been released give no indication. But a lawsuit filed by Rooker's family says "approximately seven shots" were fired through the truck's windshield, hitting Rooker in the head and the chest.

Attorney David Shroyer represents Rooker's father in a federal civil lawsuit filed against Jenkins, the Pike County sheriff's office and others involved that night.

Shroyer said Rooker, 26, had some criminal trouble when he was younger but had put that behind him. At the time of his death, Rooker had been living with a friend along Fields Hollow Road, the same road in southwestern Pike County on which he died, and was working at a local sawmill.

"He seemed to be doing well, earning a paycheck and taking care of things," Shroyer said. "It's a shame."

Richard Henderson was Pike County sheriff when Rooker was killed (he later resigned and was replaced by current Sheriff Charles Reader). His brother, Paul Henderson, was the volunteer deputy who initially pursued Rooker a little after 11 p.m. on March 28, 2015. A few days after the shooting, Richard Henderson released a statement that said Rooker had put the public at risk by speeding and running stop signs during the pursuit, and that he had rammed the deputies' cruisers.

The sheriff at that time expressed condolences to Rooker's family.

"No one should have to endure losing a loved one under circumstances such as these," Henderson wrote. Then he went on. "However, I cannot emphasize enough that if he would simply have heeded my deputies' commands to bring his vehicle to a stop, and further, not used his vehicle as a deadly weapon, none of this would have happened."

The trial is expected to last through at least Friday.

hzachariah@dispatch.com

@hollyzachariah