Trial of man accused of raping and killing a 13-year-old Robeson County girl in 2018 postponed again

ROBESON COUNTY, NC (WBTW) — The trial of a man accused of raping and killing a 13-year-old Robeson County girl has been postponed again, Robeson County District Attorney Matt Scott said.

Michael McLellan appeared in court Thursday when his defense attorney requested that he be removed from the case because they were changing jobs. The judge granted the request, causing another delay in the proceedings. His trial was scheduled for July 22.

McLellan’s next court date is scheduled for early July and an update on his new counsel is expected. A trial date has not yet been set.

It is the third time the case has been postponed. McLellan’s trial was tentatively scheduled to begin in September 2023, but a motion to delay the trial until February was granted by Superior Court Judge James Gregory Bell in April 2023.

McLellan is accused of kidnapping and then killing Hania Aguilar from a yard at the Rosewood Mobile Home Park in the Lumberton area on November 5, 2018.

In an indictment filed on May 6, 2019, McLellan was charged with premeditated murder, first-degree sexual assault, sexual assault of a person under 15, theft of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment, child abduction, concealing/failing to report the death of a child, first-degree rape, rape of a child under 15, and first-degree kidnapping.

Officials said Aguilar was forced into a stolen SUV that was later found in Lumberton. A body later identified as Aguilar’s was found near Wire Grass Road in the Lumberton area on November 27, 2018.

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