Race riot deliberations to continue

? Jurors closed the first full day of deliberations Friday without reaching a verdict in the murder trial of a former police officer and two other white men accused in the shooting death of a young black woman, Lillie Belle Allen, during race riots in 1969.

The former officer and two-term York mayor, Charlie Robertson, is accused of inciting white gang members and handing out ammunition to at least one of the shooters in an effort to even the score for the shooting of a white patrolman on July 18, 1969, in a black neighborhood.

Robert Messersmith was accused of firing the fatal shot at Allen while Gregory Neff was accused of firing three times at Allen’s vehicle.

Jurors can convict all three men of first-degree murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison; or second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years. Jurors also could convict Messersmith and Neff of voluntary manslaughter, with a sentence of six to 12 years in prison.