An ex-convict accused of killing a woman who was attacked from behind and stabbed 15 occasions on a Phoenix desert trail could possibly be going through a trial in January, authorities mentioned Tuesday.

An lawyer for Zion William Teasley, 22, entered a not guilty plea on his shopper’s behalf Tuesday, the day after a Maricopa County grand jury indicted Teasley on one depend of first-degree murder.

The county lawyer’s workplace mentioned it’s reviewing the case to find out if prosecutors will search the dying penalty.

Phoenix police mentioned the physique of Lauren Heike, 29, was discovered April 29 close to a mountain climbing trail the place she usually walked a few half-mile from her residence, but it surely’s believed she was killed the day earlier than.

According to court docket paperwork, Heike had defensive wounds on her fingers and arms from heading off her attacker, and he or she could have additionally been chased over or by a barbed wire fence.

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Homicide investigators imagine the assault was random and with out provocation after Teasley allegedly adopted her on the trail. A doable motive for the killing stays unclear.

Teasley was arrested May 4 after police mentioned they used DNA proof collected on the scene and surveillance video to attach him to the case.

Police additionally mentioned they don’t imagine Heike was sexually assaulted, and the homicide weapon hasn’t been discovered.

Arizona Department of Corrections data present Teasley served 16 months in a state jail in Eloy for armed theft and different felonies and was launched in November 2020.