Trial in 2017 Iowa killing again postponed, moved from Mason City

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — The trial of an Indiana man accused of killing a Fort Dodge woman scheduled to start this week in Mason City has again been postponed and moved.

The trial for Phillip Williams was to start Monday in Mason City, but a judge granted his request Tuesday to delay and move the trial. That came after Williams’ attorney objected to the composition of the jury pool, which had only one African American. Williams is black.

A new trial date and venue have not yet been set. His trial had been moved last year to Cerro Gordo County from Webster County to avoid pretrial publicity.

Williams has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the August 2017 death of 26-year-old Jessica Gomez. Gomez’s burned body was found in a ditch near Clare on Aug. 12, 2017. Williams and Mackenzie Knigge have been charged in Gomez’s death.