Suspect in machete killing set for trial

Trial is scheduled to start April 1 for a man accused of cutting another man's throat with a machete.

Christopher Jernigan is charged with killing Frank Knight the day Jernigan got out of prison on charges from another case in Churchill County.

Mineral County District Attorney Tom Wright said Jernigan remains in custody both on the murder charge and for violating his probation.

He is accused of kicking and beating the victim unconscious and then slitting his throat with a machete. Knight was found dead in his home in Mina.

In the earlier case he was charged with a drive-by shooting, illegal possession of weapons, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, according to Wright. Under a plea bargain with the Attorney General's Office, he served 14 months before he was released.