15-year-old Wesley Welling died when a driver plowed into a bus stop outside Westlake High School in 2023, in front of his sister and other students.
The man accused of his murder, Austin Eis is now set to stand trial early next year after a series of delays.
Eis did not appear in court in Ventura on Wednesday, but was ordered by the court to appear at a pre-trial conference scheduled for February 13.
"Hopefully there's no other issues that arise and we can get this going so the victims can get closure," Wesley’s mom Kelly Welling told KCLU.
She says it’s been agonizing waiting for the slow wheels of justice to turn, and having the trial date now set for March 12th – or within 60 days thereafter - is a significant step.
"We can't put the situation behind us because we don't have Wesley, but we want to at least put the whole courts and having to go to trial and reliving the details over and over [behind us]," said Kelly.
Austin Eis has entered a not guilty plea to one count of murder, 15 counts of attempted murder, seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon and one count each of unlawful use of tear gas, false imprisonment with violence, second degree commercial burglary and first-degree residential burglary. He remains in custody without bail.
