Kyle Christopher Zoellner, a 23-year-old from McKinleyville, entered a plea of “not guilty” this afternoon to a charge of murder, and he denied a special allegation of using a deadly weapon (a knife) in the April 14 killing of 19-year-old HSU student David Josiah Lawson.
District Attorney Maggie Fleming was in the courtroom as the prosecutor. Zoellner, looking younger than his age in glasses and a baggy orange jumpsuit, told Judge Stephen L. Mock that he was unable to afford a lawyer.
Zoellner was represented by Deputy Public Defender Luke Brownfield. The courtroom was filled, primarily by those supporting Lawson, including students from HSU. But the arraignment didn’t last long.
A preliminary hearing An intervention was set for April 27 at 9:45 a.m. and a preliminary hearing was set for May 1.
Judge Mock set bail at $1 million.
PREVIOUSLY:
- (UPDATE) HSU Student Fatally Stabbed in Arcata
- President Rossbacher Addresses Fatal Stabbing of HSU Student: ‘This Tragedy is Heartbreaking for All of Us’
- APD: McKinleyville Resident Arrested in Connection to Stabbing Death of HSU Teen
- Fatally-Stabbed HSU Student Named in GoFundMe Page Created to Cover Family’s Funeral Expenses
- Arcata Police Seeking Witnesses to HSU Student’s Stabbing Death
- Jail Records Reveal Name of Suspect in Fatal Arcata Stabbing
- Slain HSU Student to be Remembered at Prayer Service Tonight, Vigil on Thursday
- Arcata Police Receive Anonymous Email Detailing Specifics of Arcata Homicide, Beg Author to Come Forward; Suspect Officially Named
- ‘He Was the One’: Josiah Lawson, Humboldt State Student and President of Brothers United, Remembered at Campus Prayer Service
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