PUEBLO – The man accused of killing Kelsie Schelling pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon.
Donthe Lucas and his defense team entered not guilty plea Tuesday. Lucas’ defense team also indicated they would ask the judge for a change of venue.
Lucas’ status conference date is set for Jan. 7, 2019 and there is a two-day motions hearing scheduled for Feb. 7-8 for separate robbery charges as well as the murder case.
The judge set a trial date for April 2, 2019 and said the trail is expected to take three weeks.
Lucas is accused of killing Schelling, even though her body has never been found.
She was last known to have traveled to Pueblo from her home in Denver to visit Lucas in February of 2013.
Schelling was pregnant at the time and has never been seen or heard from since.
Her mother, Laura Saxton, told News5 earlier this summer that she feared the case would never make it to a courtroom.
Saxton says the turning point in the case came when it was turned over to someone new within the Pueblo Police Department, and when police agreed to start working with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
