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New trial site selected in slaying of southeast Iowa teen

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February 12th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a second man accused of fatally shooting a gender-fluid Iowa teenager will be moved to another county. The Hawk Eye reports that a judge Thursday granted a request from the attorney for Jason Purham, of St. Louis. The attorney cited in part the extensive media coverage of the case in Des Moines County. The trial will be held in Washington County and is scheduled to begin Sept. 25.

Purham has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the slaying of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson, whose body was dumped in a Burlington alley on March 2, 2016. Purham’s cousin Jorge “Lumni” Sanders-Galvez was convicted in November and sentenced to life in prison.