The murder trial for a man accused in the deadly 2023 shooting at The Muse apartment complex has been pushed back six months.

Malik Jones, 32, of Bowling Green, was originally scheduled to face a jury trial on Jan. 15 in Warren Circuit Court on charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Jones and two other people were indicted in connection with the death of Ayanna Morgan, 21, who was shot July 23, 2023, in the parking lot of the apartment complex and pronounced dead the following day.

Jones’ attorney, Jill Elkind of the Department of Public Advocacy, filed a motion to continue the trial.

At a hearing on Friday, Elkind said an expert witness that had been retained in the case informed her that their work is ongoing and that they would not be prepared to testify if the trial moved forward as scheduled.

Warren County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Daniel “Tres” Miller objected, but Warren Circuit Court Judge John Grise granted the continuance, rescheduling Jones’ trial for July 8 and setting a pretrial conference for April 21.

Elkind had earlier argued for the dismissal of the murder case against Jones, arguing that he was entitled to immunity from prosecution because he was acting in self-defense against Morgan, who confronted Jones and others in his group with a handgun that was eventually used against her.

Miller countered in a court filing that there was probable cause to believe Jones acted unlawfully during the assault and subsequent shooting of Morgan, and Grise denied the motion to dismiss in an order entered Dec. 26.

Malik Jones’ twin brother, Malcolm Jones, is charged with complicity to murder and tampering with physical evidence, based on allegations that he joined in the altercation between his brother and Morgan and assaulted Morgan and that he subsequently disposed of evidence linked to the shooting.

Kobee Lancaster, 26, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, two counts of complicity to tampering with physical evidence, two counts of second-degree hindering prosecution or apprehension and a count of leaving the scene of an accident.

Lancaster is accused of driving the Jones brothers away from the scene of the shooting and striking Morgan with his vehicle as it left the parking lot.

Also during Friday’s hearing, Grise heard a motion from Miller to exclude evidence of Morgan’s prior contact with law enforcement or references of prior felonious activity possibly involving her.

According to court records, there is evidence that BGPD questioned Morgan in connection to a burglary reported by her ex-boyfriend in March 2023 and that police knew her to carry a gun.

Miller argued Friday that this evidence was irrelevant and that information was not known to the defendants at the time of the fatal confrontation.

“(The defense) just wants to besmirch (Morgan’s) character in front of the jury, that’s the only purpose,” Miller said.

Elkind argued that Morgan’s prior contact with law enforcement would help the jury understand why she entered into a confrontation armed against a group of people she did not know.

“It fills in a gap for jurors in terms of why she would go down there (from her apartment),” Elkind said. “It’s very strange until you realize she has done this before.”

Grise said he would issue a ruling on the matter at a later date.