The Jesus Avila murder case will likely take a significant step forward by the middle to end of this week.
Three of the five defendants, 22-year-old Jordy Corjeno-Campoverde, 22-year-old Andrew Granado and 21-year-old Armando Nunez, are due for preliminary hearings to start Monday and end Wednesday. The hearings are listed separately on the Lyon County District Court docket but will be heard together with Judge Jeff Larson presiding.
Cornejo-Campoverde, Granado and Nunez are the first of the five defendants to reach the preliminary hearing stage. Jovan Pecina, age 20, has a three-day preliminary hearing set to begin Dec. 20, while 20-year-old Alan Alanis has a motion hearing Jan. 24 to determine whether he will be certified as an adult before a decision is made on a preliminary hearing. The other four defendants are already certified as adults. All five were juveniles when Avila’s body was found in a burned-out vehicle just southeast of Emporia in September 2017.
All five suspects were arrested this past August and later charged with murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery, arson, and interference with law enforcement.
