Pima County Attorney Laura Conover responded to Fridayâs mistrial in her officeâs prosecution of Christopher Clements by saying a new trial will be ordered.
Jurors deadlocked in the trial of Clements, 41, on a charge of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of 6-year-old Isabel Celis, they told Pima County Superior Court Judge James Marner after two days of deliberations. He declared a mistrial.
âAt this point, a new trial date will be ordered, and a new jury will have to be chosen to decide the matter. Our thoughts tonight are with the Celis and Gonzalez families,â said the statement Friday evening from Conoverâs office.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover Â
The other family the statement referred to is that of Maribel Gonzalez. The 13-year-old Tucson girl was killed in 2014 by Clements, according to a separate juryâs verdict last year in a successful prosecution by Conoverâs office against the convicted sex offender.
In that case, Clements was sentenced to natural life in prison for first-degree murder and to another 17 years for kidnapping, which will be served consecutively.
There was no immediate reaction to Fridayâs hung jury from Isabel Celisâ family members, who were not present in the courtroom when the mistrial was announced.
The trial began on Feb. 14 and resulted in a Pima County judge declaring a mistrial on March 3. Video by Caitlin Schmidt / Arizona Daily Star
Isabelâs father, mother and brother testified about the morning in April 2012 that she went missing from her Tucson bedroom.
Clementsâ defense attorneys argued to the jury that Sergio Celis, Isabelâs father, was to blame in her death, although he was never charged and testified he had nothing to do with it, and although Clements led authorities to Isabelâs remains in a desert area five years after she went missing.
Defense attorneys pointed to a lack of physical evidence, with no fingerprints or DNA connecting Clements to Isabelâs disappearance or death.
Prosecutors told jurors the circumstantial evidence was âoverwhelming,â including internet searches on Clementsâ computer, tracking records showing his cell phone locations, and the fact he knew where her body was.
The trial lasted 10 days and the state called 26 witnesses. The defense called four witnesses; Clements did not take the stand.
Marner set a court hearing for March 27 on the status of the case.
Photos: Disappearance of Isabel Celis and Maribel Gonzalez
Maribel Gonzalez, 13, left, went missing in 2014. Isabel Celis, 6, disappeared from her home in 2012.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Jonathan Mosher, left, at the arraignment for Christopher Clements in Pima County Superior Court in Tucson on Sept. 25, 2018.
Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus, Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall and Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier at a press conference in Tucson on Sept. 15, 2018. to announce the indictment of Christopher Matthew Clements in connection with the deaths of Isabel Cells and Maribel Gonzalez.
Mourners release pink and purple balloons in a farewell gesture after the memorial ceremony for Isabel Celis at St. Augustine Cathedral, Saturday, April 29, 2017.
Tara Morgan helps keep the dozens of candles lit being laid in makeshift temporary shrine at the candlelight vigil for Isabel Celis at the Valdez Main Library on April 5, 2017.
Photos of murder victim Maribel Gonzalez on display during a press conference held by Homicide Survivors, Inc. on April 12, 2016.
Abrian Gonzalez, father of Maribel Victoria Gonzalez (background photo), talks about his daughter while at Homicide Survivors in June, 2014. She was reported missing June 3 and listed as a runaway on June 4. Maribel Gonzalez, 13, was found dead in early June in Avra Valley near Trico and Avra Valley Roads.
In this 2014 photo, Tucson Police officers Felix Olivas and Michael Szelewski examine paperwork during a canvas of the area of East 12th Street and South Van Buren Ave. during the investigation into the disappearance of Isabel Celis on April 20, 2012.
Becky Celis holds back tears as she speaks to reporters at the Christian Faith Fellowship church at 5601 E. Broadway, where volunteers set up the "Isabel Celis Faith and Hope Center" for volunteers to aid in the search of daughter Isabel Celis in July, 2012.
Christian Faith Fellowship pastor David Dahlberg greets Becky Celis in July, 2012. The church helped to set up the "Isabel Celis Faith and Hope Center" for volunteers to aid in the search.
Volunteers create door hangers that have information to help them find missing girl, Isabel Celis, at a command post at Abbie Loveland Tuller School on June 1, 2012. The board behind them has information such as important phone numbers, new ideas and future events in order to keep the missing girl's name in the public's conscience.
Becky Celis, left, the mother of the missing girl Isabel Celis, and volunteer Eli Hawley discuss possible ideas for making buttons using some of the purple ribbons at the new command post at Abbie Loveland Tuller School on June 1, 2012.
Tucson Medical Center emergency worker Janel Sanchez, left, looks for Spanish language flyers on May 9, 2012, for Tanya Poleviyuma to take into Mexico for an upcoming trip. TMC workers like Sanchez have been manning a make-shift tent to help raise money for the missing Isabel Celis, 6, who has been missing since April 21st, at the shopping center parking lot at South Craycroft and East Broadway.
Becky and Sergio Celis pray during a the concert at Catalina United Methodist Church on May 6, 2012.
The image of Isabel, 6, on the back of her father's shirt as he gets a hug after the parents' first public appearance at a volunteer center close to their home on April 25, 2012. Sergio and Becky Celis made a plea for the return of their daughter.
Becky Celis pauses as she asks for the return of her daughter Isabel, 6, as her husband Sergio stands next to her at a volunteer center close to their home on April 25, 2012. Their daughter was reported missing from her midtown Tucson home last Saturday morning. The Tucson Police Department, as well as other agencies, have searched a three-mile radius around her home. During the search they have made contact with nearly everyone in the area including 17 registered sex offenders.
Members of the Diamondbacks little league team release their balloons during a vigil at Freedom Park for Isabel Celis, the six-year-old girl reported missing since Saturday morning on April 24, 2012. Celis played on the Diamondbacks team. They had a vigil after their game that included prayers, singing, tying purple ribbons near the dugout and releasing purple balloons into the air.
The Diamondbacks, a coach-pitch baseball team, stand in a moment of silence after their game at Freedom Park for Isabel Celis, the six-year-old girl reported missing, April 24, 2012.
People placing their candles at the bottom of a large poster of Isabel near the end of the candlelight vigil in the parking lot near the police command post near Craycroft and Broadway in honor of Isabel Celis on April 22, 2012.
Children and parents light and hold candles at the candlelight vigil in the parking lot near the police command post near Craycroft and Broadway in honor of missing Isabel Celis on April 22, 2012.
Children and parents light and hold candles at the candlelight vigil in the parking lot near the police command post near Craycroft and Broadway in honor of missing Isabel Celis on April 22, 2012.
Tucson Police officers search the Los Reales landfill as part of the search for 6 year-old Isabel Celis on April 23, 2012.
Nadine Karsevar, a canine dog trainer heads out to search for Isabel Celis near the police command post at Craycroft and Broadway on April 22, 2012.
Holly Salgado and Tara Alexander stand near a truck with a picture of Isabel Celis near the police command post near Craycroft and Broadway on April 22, 2012.
