Jury selection is underway in the long-awaited murder trial of Gionni Sellers, the Middletown man accused of fatally beating 3-year-old Xavier Johnson in 2022.

Sellers walked into Orange County Court Wednesday escorted by sheriff’s deputies, holding a Bible and declined to comment shortly before prospective jurors were brought into the courtroom.

Prosecutors say Sellers was dating the child’s mother and was babysitting at her Wallkill apartment when Xavier was abused over the course of about a week. They allege the toddler suffered escalating injuries that ultimately proved fatal.

According to prosecutors, Xavier suffered broken ribs and repeated blunt force trauma to his head and body. They say he was last seen alive entering his mother’s apartment at the end of May 2022 and was taken out on a gurney on June 2, 2022, after first responders attempted life-saving measures.

As jury selection began in a separate area of the courthouse, attorneys immediately argued in court over what evidence jurors should be allowed to see during the trial.

Prosecutors sought to introduce photos and video they say document the child’s injuries, including family photos taken in the days before Xavier’s death and video from inside the apartment building where first responders tried to save him.

Defense attorneys objected, arguing that the images were inflammatory and would unfairly sway jurors by appealing to emotion rather than fact. Judge Craig Brown ultimately ruled that some of the evidence can be shown at trial, while other photos and video will be excluded.

Prosecutors have said Sellers became angry after the child’s mother friended an ex-boyfriend on social media and allege he took that anger out on the toddler.

They also told the court the boy’s mother was trying to determine what was wrong with her son in the days leading up to his death. Prosecutors say bruising on Xavier’s arms was misdiagnosed by his pediatrician as a rash related to illness.

The case has been pending for years. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office says the delay was due to a conflict involving Sellers’ attorney that was not discovered until about two years into the case.

Sellers is charged with murder with depraved indifference and manslaughter and pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have also said he had a history of domestic violence and was facing other domestic violence cases around the time of the child’s death.

Jury selection is expected to continue Thursday, with opening statements scheduled for Friday. The trial is expected to last through the end of the month.