La Crosse murder case might be resolved in court soon, at urging of judge preparing to retire

A plea agreement may be reached in the coming weeks, in a La Crosse murder case dating back to the first week of 2019.

During a court hearing on Friday, retiring Judge Ramona Gonzalez urged defendant Anquin St. Junious of La Crosse to talk with his defense lawyer about where the case should go. 

St. Junious is accused of fatally stabbing Virgil Stewart during an argument in a taxi on 7th Street in January of 2019.  He’s scheduled to be tried in July, but he came to court seeking to replace Jeffrey Ocwieja of Madison, the third attorney who has taken the case.

The governor’s office recently began taking applications for a successor to Judge Gonzalez, who plans to retire in early July. The judge said a trial would be delayed further if St. Junious attempted to hire a new lawyer now, and she did not want to leave the case to a new judge.

St. Junious and Ocwieja were given a few minutes to talk, and the attorney came back to court saying the two might be able to resolve the case.

St. Junious attended the hearing by Zoom from the Columbia state prison in Portage, where he’s serving a sentence for a previous stabbing that occurred a decade ago.