In early December, 17-year-old Edward Keller, Jr. of Bishop confessed to the murder of 29-year-old James Williams on November 26th, according to Inyo Sheriff’s officers. This week, Keller appeared in court with a private attorney.

District Attorney Art Maillet said that a Fair Oaks-Sacramento area lawyer, Nathan DelCampo, has taken Keller’s case from the public defender. DelCampo appeared in court with his client on Tuesday.

A preliminary hearing was set for March. Although Keller is a juvenile and remains in custody at the Juvenile Hall in Independence, he will be tried as an adult for the murder of Williams.

It was during the Thanksgiving holiday that Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance call on Barlow Lane. Officers said they found a man with a head wound and another man passed out beside the victim. At first, Morgan Kinney, Jr. was arrested as the murder suspect until deputies said they interviewed Keller who was then charged with the homicide.