A new trial date has been set for Galen Allen Jr., the 28-year-old charged with murder in a December 2013 Bi-Lo parking lot robbery.
On Wednesday, attorney Jason Fisher and prosecutor Lance Pope settled on an Aug. 16 trial date in Judge Barry Steelman’s courtroom and a July 25 checkup. Originally scheduled to begin Oct. 13, 2015, Allen’s trial passed to December, then March, and was finally canceled and rescheduled altogether. In the interim, Allen has dropped his public defender and hired Fisher in February.
Chattanooga police say Allen and his friend Calvin Ward, 17, arranged to meet Jaden Archer in the grocery store parking lot on Highway 58 to buy four Microsoft tablets in December 2013.
During the purchase, Archer told police, Ward tried to rob him. In self-defense, he fired his .40-caliber Glock, killing the teenager. He has not been charged in the incident.
Archer also shot Allen when the 28-year-old attempted to pull him from a vehicle. Witnesses told police a gray van sped away from the scene.