A trial date has been set in the New Philadelphia double murder case.
On Monday, Schuylkill County President Judge Jacqueline Russell granted a defense request and did allow another continuance in the case but also set a date for the trial to begin.
Another status conference was scheduled for March 9. Russell then set dates for jury selection and a trial. Jury selection is set to begin on May 1 with the trial scheduled to get underway on May 4.
Two full business weeks are being blocked off on the court calendar for this trial, May 4-15.
Lamour Branch, 21, is facing two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of third-degree murder, and numerous other offenses. Police say he killed 18-year-old Hunter Mock and 16-year-old Angelito Caraballo, both of New Philadelphia, on Oct. 8, 2023, in a wooded area near the borough called The Sanchez.
It’s alleged that Branch shot Mock in the head and then stabbed Caraballo to death before he fled the area. He reportedly went to Tremont and then fled to Mountain Top, Luzerne County, where he was eventually apprehended.
At a status conference in this case on Monday at Schuylkill County Courthouse, Branch appeared in person before Russell. In previous court appearances, he’s typically appeared via video conference.
Branch’s attorney, Ashley Sabol, of the Schuylkill County Public Defenders office, requested a continuance so that her DNA expert would have time to review evidence and file a report. Sabol was unsure when that report would be completed by her expert.
That report might need to be reviewed by the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office, too. District Attorney Mike O’Pake had no objection to Sabol’s request and did not question her “good faith effort to move things along.”
O’Pake did add that he knows “the family (of the victims) are anxious to get this moving forward.”
Numerous family and friends of Mock and Caraballo were on hand for Monday’s conference, as they have been at previous updates in this case. In the past, they’ve expressed their frustration at the slow schedule of this case.
Branch acknowledged to Russell Monday that by requesting another continuance, he’s pushing back the proverbial clock on his right to be tried on these charges within a year of his formal arraignment.
FOR MORE ON THIS CASE, CHECK OUT OUR CONTINUING FULL COVERAGE AT THIS LINK:
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