A Dakota County judge on Thursday denied motions to change the trial venue and drop a first-degree murder charge for Shavelle Chavez-Nelson, the man accused of fatally shooting Palagor (Paul) Jobi in the parking lot of Nina's Bar and Grill in September 2013.
Attorneys representing Chavez-Nelson, 32, argued that local press coverage of Jobi's death and the related death of Anarae Schunk would prevent him from receiving a fair trial in Dakota County.
Police say Chavez-Nelson killed 23-year-old Jobi outside the Burnsville bar in the early morning hours of Sept. 22 after a dispute. He is also charged with first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Schunk, his former girlfriend who was at the bar that night and went missing after the shooting.
Schunk, 20, was a University of Minnesota student. Her body was found along a roadside ditch more than a week later. Ashley Conrade — Chavez-Nelson's companion — is also charged in Schunk's death.
A trial date is set for Oct. 27. Schunk case trials are scheduled for 2015.
Liz Sawyer
