A panel of 12 jurors and six alternates were sworn in Thursday for the Jodi Arias murder trial.

Seven women and 11 men, ranging in age from a male who appears to be in his early 20s to several of retirement age will be deciding if Arias is guilty of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.

During Thursday’s jury selection process, defense attorneys Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Wilmott argued that the prosecution was “systematically excluding” women and African-Americans. The jury appears to be all white except for one Hispanic male.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez argued that race and sex had nothing to do with striking the jurors. He cited a couple of women who had previous domestic violence incidents, one female who said she needed to be “100% sure that a person was guilty," an African-American woman who said she thinks the death penalty is akin to murder, and another woman is married to a preacher.

An African-American man was excused because he recognized one of the defense attorneys as a client at his after-school program.

Judge Sherry Stephens ruled the prosecution showed no bias in their decision to dismiss the potential jurors.

Read more: Victim’s sister: Arias deserves death

Arias is accused of shooting Alexander in the face, stabbing him 29 times and slitting his throat from ear to ear.

In June 2008, Alexander's roommates found his mutilated body in the shower at his Mesa, Arizona, home. Prosecutors say Arias killed Alexander after he decided to break off their sexual relationship.

Read more: Jodi Arias: Cold-blooded killer or innocent victim?

Authorities say Arias has given several stories about Alexander's death. Initially, Arias told police she wasn't with him when he was killed. Then, she said two intruders killed Alexander.

Now Arias is saying she killed Alexander in self-defense because he got violent with her. If convicted, Arias faces the death penalty.