State supreme court sets stage for new Rios trial.

Byline: Joe Meyer

Oct. 30--The Missouri Supreme Court this afternoon denied a request to reconsider a lower court's ruling overturning the first-degree murder conviction of Steven Rios, setting the stage for a new trial.

Rios, 30, was convicted in May 2005 of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the slaying of University of Missouri-Columbia student Jesse Valencia. Rios, a Columbia police officer at the time of Valencia's death, had been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The state's high court denied a motion from prosecutors asking that the appeal be transferred out of the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

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