PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria County judge has agreed that the parents accused of causing their son’s death last year should be tried separately.
Documents filed in Peoria County Circuit Court indicate Judge John Vespa Thursday granted a motion made by attorneys for Stephanie Jones, 36, to separate her case from that of Brandon Walker, 41.
The two were arrested in April of last year after the late-March death of Navin Jones, 8. He died after allegedly being abused and severely malnourished — prosecutors describing it as torture.
Jones could now go to trial as soon as September 25th, after a September 14th scheduling conference.
Walker, meanwhile, could still go to trial June 26th, after a June 15th scheduling conference.
