Hearing Delayed For Woman Accused In Fatal Robbery

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A violation-of-probation hearing for a woman who was charged in the fatal stabbing of a Johns Hopkins University researcher has been postponed until late September.

The Baltimore Sun reports that prosecutors are waiting to see if Lavelva Merritt testifies that her lover, John Wagner, stabbed Stephen Pitcairn, 23, last year as he was walking home in Baltimore's Charles Village neighborhood.

Merritt was charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to robbery-related crimes as part of a plea deal. The hearing was pushed back into September so Merritt can be sentenced first in the robbery case.

Wagner's murder trial is scheduled for August. The newspaper reports that Merritt is expected to say that both she and Wagner robbed Pitcairn, but Wagner stabbed him.

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