Hays ? An Ellis County judge has rejected a request for a change of venue for three men charged in the November beating death of a Fort Hays State University student.

Former Fort Hays students Louis A. Llamas, 24, of San Diego; Jaime R. Lopez III, 24, of Chula Vista, Calif.; and Chris Ross, 19, of Wylie, Texas, are charged with second-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old student Clinton Johnson, of Healy.

The three men, all former football players at the school, also face aggravated battery charges, and Llamas and Lopez are charged with intimidation of a witness.

Johnson died two days after being struck on the head with a baseball bat on Nov. 13.

Ellis County District Judge Tom Toepfer said Monday that the defense had shown no proof that the trials for the men needed to be moved to a different county.

A former defendant in the case, 21-year-old Bradley D. Deary, of Smithville, Texas, already has been sentenced to 18 months probation as part of a plea bargain. Dreary must testify against the other three men as part of the plea arrangement.

Toepfer also agreed to have Llamas and Lopez tried separately. Initially they were to be tried together, but the judge said the two would be “pointing fingers at each other.”

Ross already had been scheduled to be tried separately in the case. His trial, the first of the three, is scheduled to start July 19.