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FLAGSTAFF — After a scant five days of intermittent deliberations at Coconino County Superior Court, the jury in the Northern Arizona University shooting case sent a note to Judge Dan Slayton.

"In the event that we cannot come to a consensus of guilty or not guilty on all counts, what shall we do?" the note read.

Slayton sent back a note. "Has the jury reached a verdict on any counts?"

The answer: "No."

Slayton sent them a standard written jury-impasse instruction, and they returned to deliberations. But it didn't matter.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday, Slayton gathered jurors back in courtroom. They still could not agree on a verdict. Slayton declared a mistrial.

Slayton set a tentative new trial date of Aug. 1 with the expectation it would be continued until a later date.

Slayton later told the media gathered outside the courthouse Tuesday afternoon that jurors had asked not to speak to the media.

Prosecutors Ammon Barker and Bryan Shea, and defense attorneys Burges McCowan and Joshua Davidson, also declined comment after the mistrial was declared.

Steven Jones, who stood accused of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the October 2015 shootings, was present when the mistrial declared. After court was adjourned, he turned to hug and kiss his mother.

None of the surviving victims of the shooting and few of their family members attended the hastily called hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Reached later, Kim Prato, mother of surviving shooting victim Nick Prato, said, "We are saddened by the current jury’s inability to come to a consensus in this trial but are given strength with the fact we have the truth on our side and that justice will prevail."

The jury of six men and six women began deliberating April 25. But the specter of a mistrial appeared almost immediately when deliberations were suspended the next morning so Slayton could consider a defense motion arguing that prosecutors had misled the jury in closing arguments.

Prosecutors Barker and Shea earlier had convinced Slayton to preclude statements Jones made to police right after the shooting, while he was sitting in a patrol car, about thinking he was going to die during the attack and questioning why a group of fraternity brothers were trying to hurt him.

But then, in his closing statement, Barker led the jury to believe that Jones had made no statements related to self-defense until hours later at the police station. Defense attorney Davidson argued for a remedy.

Slayton denied the mistrial motion, but on April 27, he read an instruction to jurors informing them of Barker’s misrepresentation.

The jury then returned to deliberations.

Jones is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Colin Brough during a fight at the edge of the NAU campus in fall 2015. He also faces aggravated assault charges in the wounding of three other students.

Jones has argued he fired his gun in self-defense. Prosecutors say his actions were premeditated.

The trial began April 4 and, over the course of three weeks, prosecutors and defense attorneys brought 37 witnesses to the stand, including the surviving victims and Jones himself.

As an 18-year-old freshman, Jones had parked his red Mustang in a parking lot on campus on the evening of Oct. 8, 2015. He and three of his friends, all pledges for the Sigma Chi fraternity, then walked to an off-campus apartment complex to attend a party.

They hung out, playing the game "Guitar Hero" for about an hour, then made their way back toward Jones’ car.

When they realized one of the group was no longer with them, they stopped to call him in front of an apartment building known as the Courtyard, where a party was taking place. They may have rung a doorbell, raising the ire of some Delta Chi fraternity brothers who had been trying to keep a lid on strangers coming into the party.

A shouting match ensued, though both sides disagree as to how aggressive the fraternity brothers were and whether Jones and friends were defiant.

Then one of the partygoers inexplicably ran up and sucker-punched Jones, knocking out a dental bridge in his mouth and knocking the glasses from his face.

Jones ran to his car and pulled a gun from the glove box. He then walked 90 feet to confront the attackers. He testified he thought they were still menacing his friends.

He says two students charged him and he fired, killing Brough and wounding Brough's roommate, Nick Piring. But other witnesses say Brough was only walking toward Jones and that Piring was running to Brough to try to calm him down.

As Jones tried to render aid to Brough, he claims he was jumped by the crowd and fired blindly in the air. Those shots wounded two other students, Prato and Kyle Zientek.

The tragedy made national news and shook NAU’s Flagstaff campus. It was the first school shooting in the university’s 116-year history. When news of the shooting broke in the early morning hours of Oct. 9, parents with children at NAU began texting and calling them to make sure they were all right.
Jones says he feared for his life

Jones was later charged with first-degree, premeditated murder and six counts of aggravated assault.

Over objections of the prosecution, Slayton released Jones on his own recognizance. He has been staying until now with his parents in Glendale.

Jones and his two friends described being set upon by a mob of mostly drunken and angry fraternity brothers.

The fraternity brothers denied there was any violence on their part after the first sucker punch, but Jones’ friends described being taken to the ground.

Jones claimed his life was in danger and that he fired on Brough and Piring because they were about to tackle him.

Prosecutors say Jones was never in danger for his life, and that he returned to the fight with premeditation — and a gun.

Though Piring and some of the other fraternity brothers testified that Jones and Brough were several feet apart, the autopsy report showed that Brough was two feet or closer to the muzzle of Jones’ gun when he fired. The trajectory of the bullets indicated that Brough was leaning forward as if lunging, as some witnesses said.

The prosecution suggested that perhaps Brough tripped and fell.

Both sides quibbled as to the number of people who jumped Jones after the first shooting.

Several of the witnesses described trying to subdue Jones and take away his gun. Jones said he was certain that if they took it from him, they would shoot him and kill him. He said he fired into the air, striking Prato and Zientek. The prosecution alleged that Jones intended to shoot them.

Each side accused the other of lying to protect their interests.