The murder trial of a man charged in the 2012 shooting death of Ridgefielder Brian Schiavetti has been postponed again by New Jersey courts.
“The earliest it would be rescheduled is in the fall,” Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County prosecutor’s office, said Thursday, April 23.
Schiavetti, a 2009 Ridgefield High School graduate and a student at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, was the victim of a shooting in Montclair, N.J., July 22, 2012.
Ernest Williams Jr. of Montclair faces charges for murder, weapons offenses and robbery, in the case.
The trail was scheduled to start in mid-April, but Williams’ defense lawyer had a medical problem and requested the postponement.
A second New Jersey man charged in the incident, James Pitts, is likely to avoid trial, having accepted a deal from the prosecutor in 2014.
In the summer of 2012, when the shooting took place, Pitts was a fellow student at Villanova, where Schiavetti was set to begin his senior year.
Pitts’ plea deal still has to be approved by the court, and he is expected to be a witness in Williams’ eventual trial.
“He pled to conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, and distributing a controlled dangerous substance, and he faces a year in jail,” said Carter.
Proceedings are expected to be in the Hudson Country Courthouse at 595 Newark Avenue, in Jersey City, N.J.
Williams potentially faces life in prison.
“He’s been charged with murder,” Carter said. “If you’re convicted of murder you can face 30 years to life. If you’re convicted of murder the minimum sentence is 30 years.”