GALENA, Ill. - As he prepares to seek justice for his slain daughter, Adonnis Hill hopes the case will spur other parents to be more cautious about their children.

Hill's daughter, 13-year-old Donnisha, was found beaten to death in October 2006. Authorities say a neighbor hired someone to kill her in order to cover up allegations of sexual abuse.

The man accused of orchestrating Donnisha's death, David Damm, is scheduled to go to trial on murder charges in Illinois. Jury selection starts Monday and could take a number of days.

The accused hit man, Bruce Burt, is expected to testify for the prosecution.

Because Donnisha was killed in Illinois, the trial will be held in that state. Damm faces the death penalty if convicted.

The trial is scheduled to take weeks, and Adonnis Hill plans to be there gavel-to-gavel.

"We're looking forward to getting the trial started so we can get this behind us," Adonnis Hill, 32, said. He's self-employed, so taking time off isn't a big deal, he said.

In the almost two years since the slaying, Donnisha's family has been keeping her memory alive.

They have printed bumper stickers in green, her favorite color, pleading "Justice for Donnisha."

To mark the date of her death, friends and family meet at the cemetery to release balloons. There are 13 red ones - one for each year of her life - and a green one for every year since her passing.

"We keep Donnisha's spirit in very high regards," Adonnis Hill said.

He wants to do something more to preserve his daughter's memory and has contemplated setting up a program at Logan Middle School, where Donnisha was on the honor roll. It might be a scholarship to help an eighth-grader prepare for the next school year or tutoring project.

Donnisha, an eighth-grader when she died, had tutored other students.

Other possibilities include a center or a hot line where young girls could turn to for help or to talk about concerns.

Jury selection

Potential jurors came to the Jo Daviess County Courthouse in Galena Friday to fill out a 21-page questionnaire.

The survey, which includes a witness list, questions them about their knowledge of the case and even asks what TV shows they watch and books they read, Clerk of Court Sharon Wand said.

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense will review the answers over the weekend, and on Monday begin the selection process.

A normal felony trial would demand about 60 potential jurors, Wand said. Damm's case, which is expected to take five or six weeks and could involve decisions about capital punishment, 240 people were summoned.

"I normally would summons in 60 people, but I know I needed many more," Wand said. "We called in a lot of people so we have a lot of names we can pick from."

Jury selection alone could take a week, Wand said.

Damm's case will be the first death-penalty trial in Jo Daviess County in the 21 years Wand has been clerk.

A few years ago, a defendant pleaded guilty in a death-penalty case. The defendant waived his right to a jury in the penalty phase, and the punishment was determined by a judge at a bench trial.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.