A judge has ordered a three-week retrial for a Davenport man charged with the murder of a nine-year-old girl. Sarah Ritter reports a retrial for 54-year-old Stanley Liggins will begin in July.
Summary
Prosecutors say Liggins strangled nine-year-old Jennifer Lewis, of Rock Island, and burned her remains on a Davenport school playground in 1990. Charges include first-degree murder, sexual abuse, kidnapping, and arson.
The Quad City Times reports Liggins was tried in the girl's death twice in the 1990s, in Scott County and in Dubuque. He was convicted in both trials and sentenced to life in prison. But, the Iowa Supreme Court over-turned the first ruling on a technicality. The Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the second.
Liggins was supposed to be re-tried in Scott County later this month, but the judge has allowed him to postpone until July 5. Also yesterday, the judge scheduled a pre-trial hearing, where the trial could be moved out of Scott County.