High profile Bureau County trial delayed until later this summer

If you’ve been following the story of a Mendota teenage girl being hit and killed while walking on a rural Bureau County road, the man blamed in the fatal hit and run has had his trial pushed back.

Twenty-year-old Jose Torres was originally scheduled to stand trial one month from today for his alleged role in the death of 19-year-old Jacquelin Martinez of Mendota. Martinez and other teens were walking on a rural road near Bureau last August when they were hit. Everyone but Martinez survived.

Torres is now looking at an August 22nd jury trial date. He faces felony charges of failing to report an accident resulting in death and failing to report an accident resulting in an injury.

Torres also faces a lesser charge of fraud in La Salle County where he’s accused of trying to prevent a repo man from taking his Jaguar that investigators say was the car involved in the fatal hit and run.