LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A judge declared a mistrial after a jury could not reach a verdict in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a Lawrence woman in 2014.
A jury deliberated for three days before the mistrial was declared Friday in the trial of 23-year-old Rontarius Washington Jr. He is charged in the death of 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso, who was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death in a Lawrence apartment in November 2014.
Washington lived in an apartment near Mosso. He is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery, and an alternative of first-degree felony murder. The jury could not reach a verdict on all three charges.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Washington has been in custody since early 2015 while his trial was repeatedly delayed . Washington told detectives he entered Ruiz’s apartment to steal money and Mosso dead.
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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
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