Prosecutors called four witnesses to the stand and then rested their case Tuesday as the murder trial of Shane Sloan moved through its second day in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

Sloan, 29, faces first- and third-degree murder charges for allegedly killing his mother, Susan LaRue Feegler, after she tried to stop him from killing himself in February 2001 in the Pine Township trailer they shared.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without a chance of parole.

Grace Fales -- Ms. Feegler's mother and Sloan's grandmother -- was the first person to take the stand. Most of her testimony focused on the morning of Feb. 5, 2001, when she sensed that something was wrong in the trailer and called 911.

Two state troopers who responded to the call followed Mrs. Fales on the witness stand, providing more than two hours of testimony about the two-hour standoff they had at the trailer, the tense moments when Sloan surrendered and was arrested, and the discovery of Ms. Fleeger's body in the trailer.

Cpl. Brad Misfud was the commanding officer at the scene, and Cpl. Scott Patterson talked with Sloan for most of the standoff.

Lester Young, an inmate at the state Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, was the final witness called by the prosecution. Young, who has charges pending in Mercer County but said he received no deals for his testimony, testified that Sloan was a prior acquaintance whom he met again while they were both lodged in Mercer County Jail shortly after the killing.

While they were there, Young said Sloan told him that "he was trying to kill himself when his mother interrupted …(and that) he killed her by strangling her."

"He said his life was messed up in every way possible," Young said.

Judge Michael J. Wherry told jurors that the defense was expected to begin its arguments this morning and could continue them through Thursday.

After the jurors were excused, lawyers argued briefly over a defense motion to include voluntary manslaughter -- a first-degree felony that carries a 10- to 20-year prison sentence -- in the list of charges.

Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a victim provokes a person in a manner that would cause "a reasonable person to react with anger," Wherry said. Wherry said he was leaning toward denying the motion but would reserve ruling on it until after the jury has heard the entire case.