La Crosse murder trials on hold because of COVID-19

It looks like jury trials in La Crosse County will be on hold for some time, because of the coronavirus. 

The county clerk of court’s office says the uncertainty about having groups of people together in a courtroom has led county officials to put off trials indefinitely. 

One local murder case being continued to next year is the trial of Anquin St. Junious, accused of fatally stabbing Virgil Stewart in a taxi on 7th Street in La Crosse. 

On Monday, the next hearing for St. Junious was set for early January of 2021, just days after the two-year anniversary of Stewart’s murder.  

Two defendants in a north La Crosse murder from last year are scheduled for court hearings in the next few weeks, but no trial date is being set. 

Cousins Odell and Shavonte Thompson are both charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Javier Hall last November. 

Police say Hall was in an alley near Copeland Park when he was hit by shots fired from a car. 

Shavonte Thompson is accused of firing the gun. 

Investigators believe Odell Thompson drove Shavonte and others to the scene of the shooting.