The man linked to the slayings of two Tucson girls will likely stand trial in 2021.
During a pretrial conference Monday, Judge Deborah Bernini confirmed with the prosecution and defense for Christopher Clements that the trial would begin on Feb. 23, 2021, at Pima County Superior Court.
Clements, 37, was indicted Sept. 14, 2018, on 22 charges after being linked to the killings of Isabel Celis, 6, and Maribel Gonzalez, 13.
Those charges include two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and burglary, as well as 14 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, related to child pornography allegedly found in his possession.
He was already serving a prison sentence for an unrelated incident and later pleaded not guilty to the 22 new charges on Sept. 24, 2018.
Clements, who has a 20-year criminal history that spans four states, is accused of taking Isabel from her midtown home as her family slept in April 2012, according to Star archives.
In March 2017, investigators would find her remains in a desert area northwest of Tucson. More than 500 mourners would gather at a memorial ceremony for Isabel a month later.
However, further information about what led to the finding of Isabelβs remains was not released.
On Sept. 21, 2018, court documents confirmed Clements led investigations to the remains in order to get an unrelated burglary case against him dropped.
Those documents also confirmed Clements was out of jail on bail in June 2014 when he allegedly killed Maribel. She had left her Tucson home to visit a friend, according to Star archives.
