In what has become a monthly visit over the last two years, a Valencia man accused of strangling his boyfriend in 2017 appeared in court Monday for a pretrial hearing.
Christian Alexander Ortiz, 23, is charged with murder in the death of Brayan Rodriguez.
On Monday, he appeared in San Fernando Superior Court where he was given a new court date of Nov. 18 for another pretrial conference, Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, said Monday.
In October 2018, following a daylong preliminary hearing, a judge ruled that Ortiz should stand trial for murder.
Prior to that decision being made, Ortiz saw his preliminary hearing postponed four times.
Over the course of the past two years, defense lawyers have requested more time to prepare their case.
Ortiz remains in custody in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility with bail set at $2 million.
He 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’ 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, 2017.
Rodriguez, 20, identified by prosecutors as the accused man’s boyfriend, was reported missing Sept. 22, 2017, prompting several searches to find him throughout that weekend.
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