An arraignment for a mother and her boyfriend accused of killing Trinity Love Jones, whose body was dumped in a duffel bag along a hiking trail in Hacienda Heights last month, was postponed on Tuesday.
Taquesta Graham, 28, and Emiel Hunt, 38, both appeared in a Pomona courtroom on Tuesday morning, but neither entered a plea in the case. Instead, for the second time in as many months, their arraignments were pushed back.
The two are scheduled to make their next appearance in court on May 21.
Prosecutors have charged both with first-degree murder.
The pair are suspected of killing the young victim on March 1, four days before her body was found partially stuffed inside a duffel bag down an embankment in the area of Hacienda Boulevard and Colima Road, according to investigators.
Trinity’s death was ruled a homicide, but investigators have not revealed how she died.
Graham and Hunt were initially detained at a border crossing in Texas on March 8; the mother was arrested in connection with an unrelated warrant, while her boyfriend was released, authorities said.
Hunt drove back to Southern California where he was taken into custody again early the next day near the San Diego International Airport, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder and charged on March 12. Eight days later, prosecutors announced Graham would also face a murder charge in her daughter’s killing.
Both have prior convictions, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Graham was found guilty of enticing a minor for prostitution in San Bernardino County, a news release from the DA’s office stated.
Hunt was convicted of child abuse in San Diego County and spent at least a decade in prison, according to the criminal complaint and a sheriff’s detective.
If found guilty of killing Trinity, Graham faces a possible maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison, while Hunt could get 55 years to life in prison, prosecutors said.