Rochester Murder Trial Postponed For a Second Time
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A new trial date has been set for the second man charged in connection with the murder of a Rochester man in downtown Rochester two years ago.
24-year-old Nautica Cox had been scheduled to stand trial last week on two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, one count of aiding and abetting attempted murder, all along with a felony count of illegal possession of a firearm. Court records now indicate jury selection for his trial is scheduled to begin on January 8 of next year with a pretrial hearing scheduled on January 2.
This is the second time his trial has been postponed. It was originally scheduled to take place in December of last year.
According to the criminal complaint, Cox is accused of brandishing a handgun and firing it in the direction of a group of people who had gathered outside the entrance to the city parking ramp at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 1st Street Southwest in the early hours of June 6, 2021. The court document says a Rochester police officer on patrol saw Cox firing his gun and chased him into a nearby alley where he was arrested.
A second man charged in the case, 29-year-old Derek Days, is serving a 35 1/2-year prison sentence for his conviction on second-degree murder and second-degree assault charges. Days was also accused of opening fire after an argument broke out over a dice game on the downtown sidewalk. The charges indicated the shots he fired fatally wounded 28-year-old Todd Banks Junior and critically wounded a second man.
Cox is currently jailed in the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center on $2 million bail.
