Salina ? A preliminary hearing for a 15-year-old rural Assaria boy accused of killing his 9-year-old stepbrother was postponed because the boy’s natural father hadn’t been notified of the court proceeding.

The teen is charged with juvenile first-degree murder in the June 2009 shooting of his stepbrother. The two were home alone when the shooting occurred.

The preliminary hearing scheduled Wednesday is now scheduled for May 24 in Saline County District Court.

Prosecutors say the boy’s natural father is in the Navy and stationed in Hawaii. Notification of the proceeding was originally sent to a serviceman with the same name. The Salina Journal reports that the father has no interest in attending the proceedings.

Judge Patrick Thompson allowed the delay, saying he didn’t want a technicality to overturn the case on appeal.