FAYETTEVILLE -- Two capital murder trials in Washington County Circuit Court are reset until early next year, which means Judge William Storey will not be hearing them.
Storey is set to become Fayetteville District Judge on Jan. 1. Storey's cases will be transferred to other judges, who can then set them based on their trial schedules.
Juan Pablo Perez-Lopez, 29, had been scheduled to go to trial Monday. His case was reset to Jan. 26. Perez-Lopez told police he stabbed Jesus Cecilio Villalobos, a Springdale auto mechanic, about 20 times Feb. 13, 2013.
Motorists called Springdale police about two men fighting on Huntsville Avenue and said one of them had a knife and was riding away on a bicycle. Police found Perez-Lopez on a bicycle with a knife and bloody hands, then found Villalobos, 48, in a parking lot with multiple stab wounds to his chest and his throat cut, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in the case.
Perez-Lopez pleaded not guilty last year. He is in the Washington County jail without bond.
Perez-Lopez' trial was delayed because a second mental evaluation to determine if he's fit to stand trial hasn't been completed. An earlier examination at the Arkansas State Hospital found Perez-Lopez fit to proceed.
The capital murder trial for Rico Tavarous Cohn, who is accused in the death of Nina Ingram was reset last week because independent testing of some evidence isn't complete, according to attorneys handling the case.
Cohn, 28, is charged with capital murder in the death of Ingram, who was a 21-year-old University of Arkansas student. Ingram was found strangled inside her Sycamore Street apartment April 22, 2006. Cohn was arrested and charged after Fayetteville police reopened the case in 2012.
Cohn has repeatedly denied killing Ingram. Cohn's trial is set for Feb. 23.
In convicted, Perez-Lopez and Cohn face either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors haven't said whether they will seek the death penalty in either case.
NW News on 10/28/2014