A trial date has been set for a man accused of fatally shooting his friend inside an Egg Harbor Township home when both were teens.
Ernesto Contreras Jimenez was 17 when he shot his 16-year-old friend in the back of the head Jan. 26, 2018.
Jimenez's attorney has said it was an accident.
Jimenez, now 20, and Alejandro Gonzalez-Santos Jr. were in the bedroom of friend, Michael Campos, when he took out the gun to show the others.
His defense attorney has argued that the teen removed the magazine and, thinking the gun was now safe, pointed it to the back of Gonzalez-Santos' head and fired.
Campos' mother called 911 first saying that her husband was upstairs and said one of the boys fell.
But the man later gets on telling the dispatcher that the boy was shot.
"I don't know why these guys have the gun," he tells the dispatcher. "He's a friend of my son."
Jimenez appeared briefly before Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury on Thursday via Zoom from his home. He has been on an ankle monitor since his arrest, and was kept on electronic monitoring after his case was waived up to adult court about seven months later.
He was even able to graduate with his Egg Harbor Township High School class that year.
A trial is set for Sept. 21, after courts are supposed to be again open to the public.
The new conditions were discussed Thursday, including whether witnesses would need to wear masks.
DeLury said masks would likely be necessary during certain parts of the trial, but that witnesses would be able to take them off while on the stand. There may be instances where one of the attorneys needs to approach the witness, so that would be handled accordingly.
Jimenez was indicted by a grand jury on charges of aggravated manslaughter, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in November 2018.
There still will be some motions to address before the trial, defense attorney Steven Feldman told the judge.
He wants to make sure there is no mention of a bullet found in Campos' bedroom that had nothing to do with the shooting, Feldman said.
The same goes for marijuana found in the room that Feldman said had nothing to do with his client.
"There is no indication anyone had done marijuana," he said.
(NOTE: A resurgence in COVID-19 cases caused trials to once again be postponed. No new trial date has been set for Jimenez.)
