Jury deadlocks in murder trial of stepfather accused of killing 2-year-old Jahi Turner

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KABC) -- A mistrial has been declared in the case against a man accused of killing 2-year-old Jahi Turner, who disappeared in San Diego back in 2002.

Turner's stepfather, Tieray Jones, 39, was facing second-degree murder charges after the 2-year-old went missing 16 years ago.

The jury in this case deadlocked 2 for guilty, 10 for not guilty on the murder charges and deadlocked 10 for guilty, 2 for not guilty on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Jones, who lived with Jahi and the child's mother in off-base Navy housing near a park, told police he left the boy alone in a playground for about 15 minutes while he went to get a soda about 150 yards away.

The boy's body was never found. Police always suspected Jones in the boy's disappearance, but it took more than a decade -- until 2016 -- to bring charges against him

A status conference is scheduled for Wednesday to map out the next steps in the case.

City News Service contributed to this report.