Four of the five defendants in the 2017 murder of 19-year-old Jesus Avila will be back in court next week.
All five defendants — 19-year-old Alan Alanis, 21-year-old Jordy Cornejo-Campoverde, 21-year-old Andrew Granado, 20-year-old Armando Nunez and 20-year-old Jovan Pecina — had first appearances as part of a roughly hour-long proceeding Friday. Alanis, Granado, Nunez and Pecina were all set for status hearings at 3 pm Tuesday and had bond set at $750,000.
Cornejo-Campoverde, meanwhile, will have a preliminary hearing on a date to be determined. He is being tried as an adult. The remaining defendants are currently being charged as juveniles but prosecutors are working to have them tried as adults.
Affidavits are sealed for all the defendants, but the legal complaint released by Lyon County District Court to KVOE News indicates they communicated with each other and Samuel Garcia — who is currently in prison after a 2018 conviction for kidnapping and is ineligible for release until January 2024 — to set plans before Garcia allegedly killed Avila. They then allegedly conspired to take money, a speaker and AK-47 rifle from Avila’s car; burn Avila’s body and car; and dispose of a .22-caliber pistol allegedly involved in the murder.
Each defendant currently in the court process is charged with a single count of first-degree murder with an alternate count of felony murder. They also face single counts of conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, arson and interference with law enforcement. Avila’s body was found in a burned-out near Roads 160 and T in early September 2017. Defendants were arrested earlier this week.
12:30 pm Friday: Emporia suspects to have first appearance at 2 pm Friday
At least four of the five suspects arrested this week in the 2017 murder of 19-year-old Jesus Avila have their first appearances in Lyon County District Court on Friday.
21-year-old Jordy Cornejo-Campoverde, 20-year-old Armando Nunez, 19-year-old Alan Alanis and 20-year-old Jovan Pecina, all of Emporia, will appear before Judge Doug Jones at 2 pm. The status of 21-year-old Andrew Granado of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has not been announced.
All five have been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, arson and interference with law enforcement.
All five suspects were juveniles at the time of the murder. The Lyon County Attorney’s Office has announced plans to have all five tried as adults.
