Yongfei Ci waved his right to a preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty Tuesday on the charges of home invasion, aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder in connection with the Sept. 27 death of University student Mengchen Huang.
Ci sat in silence during the hearing, only speaking to signify that he understood his right to a preliminary hearing and that he wished to waive it.
A preliminary hearing would have meant that either a judge or magistrate would review the case to determine whether there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. Ci’s case will proceed directly to pretrial.
The pretrial hearing will set the procedures for the rest of the trial. The pretrial for Ci’s case is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 9 a.m. in courtroom C at the Champaign County Courthouse.
Eli can be reached at [email protected].
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Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that University student Mengchen Huang died Sept. 30. She died Sept. 27. The Daily Illini regrets the error.
