Trial set to begin next week in killings of woman, children

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The murder trial of a man accused of killing a woman and her two children is set to begin next week after a jury failed to reach a verdict in his first trial earlier this year. Television station WHO 13 reports that trial will begin Monday for Marvin Esquivel Lopez. Esquivel Lopez, who is also known to federal immigration authorities as Marvin Escobar-Orellana, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the 2019 deaths of 29-year-old Rossibeth Flores-Rodriguez, 11-year-old Grecia Daniela Alvarado-Flores and 5-year-old Ever Jose Mejia-Flores. His first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury said they were able to reach a verdict on the killing of Flores-Rodriguez but not for the children.