Judge postpones trial for man accused of slaying minister

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – A judge has postponed the trial of a 24-year-old man accused of beating a Chattanooga pastor to death in 2014.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz told defendant Steven Kelley on Thursday that prosecutors asked for more time on the case, which was scheduled to go before a jury on July 26. A new trial date hasn’t been set.

Kelley and his 27-year-old girlfriend Jordan Craig are being tried separately for the November 2014 slaying of 59-year-old Kenneth Johnson, an associate minister at Mount Canaan Baptist Church, who was beaten to death in a ditch.

The couple says they met with Johnson to buy drugs, but officers found no evidence of illegal drugs. Each faces charges of felony murder and especially aggravated robbery.

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