He faces first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder charges.
The trial of the Florida State University student accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a mass shooting on campus[1] in April has been postponed until next October.
It is the latest delay in the case of 21-year-old Phoenix Ikner[2], whose court-appointed public defender recently bowed out of the case, citing a conflict of interest. Ikner has since been assigned a new defense team.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting that terrorized the campus in Florida’s capital city.
Ikner’s trial had initially been set to start the week of Nov. 3 and then was rescheduled for late March.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Lance Neff postponed the proceedings again, scheduling the trial to start Oct. 19, 2026, almost one year after the case was initially slated to go to trial.
Ikner is the stepson of a local Sheriff’s deputy[3], and investigators say he used his stepmother’s former service weapon to carry out the shooting.
Prosecutors in the case said they intend to seek the death penalty.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
References
- ^ a mass shooting on campus (apnews.com)
- ^ Phoenix Ikner (apnews.com)
- ^ stepson of a local Sheriff’s deputy (apnews.com)