Trial date for suspect in Florida State mass shooting has been postponed until next October

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FILE - An impromptu memorial of flowers and other items laid near the center of the Florida State campus in sight of the Student Union building, Tallahassee, Fla., April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough, File)

FILE - The Florida State Student Union building is seen behind law enforcement vehicles in Tallahassee, Fla., April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough, File) — FILE - An impromptu memorial of flowers and other items laid near the center of the Florida State campus in sight of the Student Union building, Tallahassee, Fla., April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough, File)

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1:22 PM on Wednesday, October 1

By KATE PAYNE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The trial of the Florida State University student accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a mass shooting on campus in April has been postponed until next October.

It is the latest delay in the case of 21-year-old Phoenix Ikner, 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, 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.

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.