A trial that had been set for next week in a Simpson County murder case has been removed from the schedule after the prosecutor raised concerns about the unavailability of a key witness.

Kristen Tunks, 54, of Bowling Green, is under indictment in Simpson Circuit Court on charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Tunks is accused of causing the death of Felecia Martin Peacock, 50, of Auburn, in a room at Holiday Inn Express in Franklin in 2022.

Peacock’s body was found by friends in one of the hotel rooms on Dec. 11, 2022, and an autopsy found the cause of death to be manual strangulation and also noted skull fractures.

The trial had been scheduled to begin next Monday, but Simpson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Lindsey filed a motion on Feb. 21 to continue the trial at least three months.

Lindsey’s filing said that the case was investigated by former Franklin Police Department Detective Canaan Scott, who now works for a police department in Florida.

“The Commonwealth has requested this material witness to come to court to testify voluntarily for the trial on March 3 and he said he is unable to do so due to professional and personal commitments in Florida the week of the trial,” Lindsey stated in the filing.

Scott has not been served with an out-of-state subpoena to assure his presence in Simpson County next week and cannot be served with one at this juncture, Lindsey said in his motion.

Also, Lindsey requested an order to be issued to have all sides attempt to resolve this case through mediation.

“While the Commonwealth was opposed to mediation of this case, after further consultation with the victim’s family the Commonwealth is agreeable to attempting to resolve this case via mediation with a future trial date also being scheduled in the event resolution cannot be achieved at mediation,” Lindsey said in the motion.

In Kentucky law, mediation is an informal, closed-door process in which a neutral third party, typically a retired judge, facilitates the resolution of a legal dispute between two parties before a trial can be held.

Tunks was arrested in Bowling Green five days after Peacock’s body was found.

According to court records, surveillance footage from the hotel shows a man entering a hotel room with Peacock in the early morning hours of Dec. 11, 2022.

Peacock leaves to go to a neighboring room soon afterward, and then returns to her room three minutes later, court records show.

The man, believed to be Tunks, left the room at a certain point afterward, returned within four minutes and left for good 51 minutes after he and Peacock are first seen on camera, records show.

A cell phone belonging to Peacock was found along Interstate 65 by police during the course of the investigation.

Tunks has remained in custody under a $500,000 cash bond since his arrest, and is due back in court on March 10.