Shooting trial set for Monday

The first-degree murder trial of a man accused of shooting and killing a 20-year-old Clovis man is set to begin Monday in the 9th Judicial District Court.

The trial of William Riley, originally scheduled for October 2005, was delayed when he failed to appear for court hearings. Local authorities found him in a California jail.

Riley is accused of killing Roshawn Pitts, who was shot three times at 916 Axtell St. on June 25, 2004, and later died at Plains Regional Medical Center.

Released on a $10,000 cash bond in the summer of 2005, Riley failed to appear for hearings in the murder case and later surfaced in a Los Angeles jail on charges of driving with a suspended license. He was extradited back to New Mexico in the fall of 2005, and has been held in the Curry County Adult Detention Center without bond.

If convicted, Riley faces life in prison.