Eight months after Jose Luis Lopez was killed in his home by Orange County deputies responding to a burglary, the person who broke in will face trial for second-degree murder.
The trial against 25-year-old Cristian Duran-Contreras, who is accused of burglary after entering the Pine Castle home by climbing through a window, will begin Monday with jury selection, followed by arguments made by prosecutors and his public defender. The entire proceeding is expected to conclude by Wednesday.
Duran-Contreras was not present at a hearing Friday to discuss the upcoming trial, but it was suggested by court officials that he rejected a deal from prosecutors in exchange for a guilty plea.
Lopez, 26, was killed by deputies Feb. 8 after they spotted him through a kitchen window holding Duran-Contre