Suspect to wait until mid-May

NORTHWOOD — The trial for the Northwood man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death last summer will not begin until spring.

A Worth County District Court judge on Friday ordered Tyrone Robin Washington Jr.’s trial begin May 11 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. His trial was previously scheduled for last month.

Washington, 40, is charged with first-degree murder of Justina Smith, 30, of Northwood, on Aug. 5, 2013, in Swensrud Park before he reportedly fled the park in Smith’s 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix.

According to an autopsy, Smith died from what authorities described as “multiple sharp-force injuries.”

Washington and his lawyer have argued about concerns with the Webster County jury pool after discovering that none of the potential jurors in the case had identified themselves as African-American.

The concern about the jury makeup is because Washington is African-American and Smith was Caucasian.

Worth County District Court Judge Colleen Weiland moved Washington’s case out of Worth County to Webster County last year in part because of concerns of getting a fair trial in a county with such a small African-American population.