Technical difficulties forced Lyon County District Court to postpone a hearing for one of five defendants in the 2017 murder of Emporian Jesus Avila.
Alan Alanis, 20, was set for a hearing Monday morning that could have led to him being certified as an adult for trial proceedings if Judge Merlin Wheeler approved. Instead, the hearing will now be Jan. 24 at 1 pm.
Currently, Alanis is the only defendant in the case not certified as an adult, and three of the other four defendants will be in court next week for hearings. Jordy Cornejo-Campoverde, Andrew Granado and Armando Nunez are all set for preliminary hearings starting Nov. 8 and possibly lasting to Nov. 10. The fifth defendant in the case, Jovan Pecina, has a three-day preliminary hearing set for Dec. 20.
Avila’s body was found in a burned-out vehicle just southeast of Emporia in September 2017. Formal charges were announced in August.
