Public kept out of court in latest Donthe Lucas hearing

PUEBLO, Colo. -- Pre-trial motions hearings for the case of Donthe Lucas, who's accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, continued Monday. But almost nobody was allowed to be present for it.

For this hearing, everyone except for the defense, prosecutors and the judge were kept out of the courtroom when the hearing began at 1:15 pm.

Lucas's trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 2020. Lucas has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the disappearance of his pregnant girlfriend, 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling.

The judge said the information discussed during today’s hearing could potentially taint a jury. This isn't the first time the judge has kept members of the press and public out of a motions hearing pertaining to Lucas's case.

Lucas is being held at the Pueblo County Jail without bond on that first-degree murder charge. Schelling reportedly drove to Pueblo from her Denver home on Feb. 4, 2013 to meet with Lucas, the alleged father of her unborn child. Since then, Schelling has not been seen or heard from.

Monday’s motions hearing lasted a little more than an hour. For a time, even family of Kelsie Schelling were kept out of the courtroom.

“We made it into the courtroom very briefly, but we were hoping to get rulings on the remaining motions," said Saxton Monday outside of the courthouse. "We didn’t even get that today. The judge said he would be putting those out within the next couple of weeks so that’s very disheartening driving down here hoping to at least have those answers. Essentially, we are walking away with no answers yet again.”

Another motions hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday. It’s unclear whether or not that will be open to the public.

Right now it’s also unclear if the scheduled trial start date for Jan. 14 will go as planned. So far, that date has already been pushed back twice from April 2019 to July 2019, to now Jan. 2020.