The man accused of killing Brayan Rodriguez appeared in court Monday to set a date for his preliminary hearing but was ordered — as he was in March — to come back next month.
Christian Alexander Ortiz, 21, charged with murder, appeared Monday in San Fernando Superior Court and was told to return Aug. 6, said Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors will present evidence in the case, and the defense can respond; the judge can then decide if the case should go to trial.
Ortiz, who remains in custody in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility with bail set at $2 million, was arrested on suspicion of murder by deputies of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station about 3 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2017.
Rodriguez’s body was found inside a closet in a house on the 23600 block of Via Valer, near Valencia Glen Park, sometime before 4 p.m. on Sept. 24.
Rodriguez, 20, identified by prosecutors as the accused man’s boyfriend, was reported missing Sept. 22, prompting several searches to find him throughout that weekend.
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