Brian Love, 42, of Riverdale, Georgia, is facing murder and weapons charges in the killing of Denise Ramsey
NEWARK -- A trial will be delayed till early next year for a Georgia man charged in the stabbing death of a woman whose body was found in an empty lot in East Orange.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin on Monday in the trial of Brian Love, but due to scheduling conflicts, Superior Court Ronald Wigler on Friday set a new trial start date of Jan. 25.
The delay is due in part to the fact that Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Naazneen Khan, who is handling the case, began a murder trial this week for Ernest Williams, Jr., who is accused of fatally shooting Brian Schiavetti in Montclair in July 2012. That trial is expected to run through the beginning of November, Khan said.
In rescheduling Love's trial, the judge also noted how Love's attorney, Olubukola Adetula, is expected to be involved in November and December in the trial of Shawn Custis, who is charged with beating a Millburn woman in a 2013 home invasion attack caught on a "nanny-cam."
Love, 42, of Riverdale, Georgia, is facing murder and weapons charges in the killing of Denise Ramsey, who was discovered under a mattress on Jan. 25, 2012 after her sister had reported her missing.
His co-defendant, Johnny Jones III, is also charged in Ramsey's murder, but he remains a fugitive.
MORE: Georgia man headed to trial in murder of 'go-go' dancer in East Orange
Ramsey, 33, was last seen in the early morning hours of Dec. 3, 2011, when she was working as a "go-go" dancer at the Doll House in Irvington, authorities said.
At that time, two men at the club became angry when they gave Ramsey three one-hundred-dollar bills and asked her for change in the form of singles, but then only received change for one hundred-dollar bill, according to eyewitnesses, court documents state.
The witnesses recalled one of the suspects saying, "if we don't get the money, then we gonna go outside, pop the trunk and kill everybody in here," court documents state. Ramsey was last seen by witnesses leaving the Doll House that evening and getting into a vehicle with the male suspects, court documents state.
Khan has indicated Jones and Love were the male suspects with Ramsey on the night of her disappearance.
Love's DNA was found under Ramsey's fingernails, Khan said. According to court documents, Jones's DNA was linked to DNA found in a sweatshirt that was wrapped around Ramsey's body and DNA found under Ramsey's fingernails.
Love also gave a statement to police in which he indicates he was present when Ramsey was being stabbed to death and that he helped in disposing of her body, according to Khan. The empty lot where Ramsey was discovered is less than a mile from where Jones and Love were residing at the time, Khan said.
Another Georgia resident, Corey Fallen, is pursuing a federal lawsuit over the case, claiming he was falsely arrested and unlawfully imprisoned in connection with Ramsey's murder.
Fallen was identified by witnesses as being with Ramsey when she went missing, but his DNA was not found on her body and detectives ultimately confirmed that Fallen was not in New Jersey at the time of Ramsey's disappearance, court documents state.
After spending nearly six months in custody, Fallen was released on his own recognizance in April 2013. About a month later, an Essex County grand jury decided to not indict Fallen in Ramsey's death.
In May 2014, Love and Jones were indicted in the murder.
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.