A trial date has been set for Aaron Saucedo, who is accused of killing nine people in Phoenix.
Last week we learned that county prosecutors filed paperwork seeking the death penalty in the case because the killings were committed in a “cold and calculated manner.”
Now, ABC15 has obtained paperwork, filed Thursday, which shows the case has been assigned to Maricopa Superior Court Judge David Cunanan and has a “firm trial date of November 4. 2019.”
The court order also sets December 6, 2019, as the last day of trial.
In the meantime, the court has ordered that Saucedo undergo IQ, competency and sanity prescreening evaluations.
Saucedo has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and drive-by shooting in attacks that killed nine people and wounded two others during a nearly one-year period that ended in July 2016.
Investigators said the victims were shot by Saucedo as he prowled the neighborhoods in a car and opened fire from inside it or stepped out briefly to shoot before driving away.
The victims were outside their homes or sitting in cars during the attacks.
Police said the victims included a 21-year-old man whose girlfriend was pregnant with their son and a 12-year-girl who was shot to death along with her mother and a friend of the woman.
Authorities say a 9mm shell casing was found in Saucedo's car when it was seized by police. Police say the casing was fired from the same gun as the shells found in the aftermath of nine of the 12 attacks.
