photo by: Nick Krug

Defendant Danny W. Queen talks with his counsel during his pretrial hearing before district court Judge Peggy Kittel on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. Queen is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the June 24, 2017, shooting death of Bo Hopson, 32, of Eudora, outside D-Dubs Bar and Grill in Eudora.

What was poised to be the county’s first murder trial of the year was called off in the final hour Monday morning and will be rescheduled, likely for June.

Defense attorneys for Danny W. Queen, 36, of Eudora, requested more time to find and consult with an additional medical expert, a need that came to light at the end of last week, said Dakota Loomis, one of Queen’s two appointed attorneys.

Early Monday afternoon, Judge Peggy Kittel granted the request and agreed to continue Queen’s trial, tentatively for June.

The judge and attorneys will meet again Monday to formally set Queen’s new trial date.

Queen, who remains jailed on $1 million bond, appeared in plain clothes, and potential jurors convened in the courtroom first thing Monday morning, but jurors were sent out while the judge and attorneys discussed the motion to continue the trial. Kittel said that she would notify potential jurors after lunch that they were not needed today.

Queen is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the case.

The victim, 32-year-old Bo Hopson, of Eudora, was shot twice shortly after 1 a.m. June 24, 2017, outside D-Dubs Bar and Grill, 10 W. Ninth St. in Eudora. He was taken to the University of Kansas hospital, where he came through surgeries successfully but died after a complication during a medical procedure the following day.

At Queen’s preliminary hearing in October, eyewitnesses to the shooting identified him in the courtroom as the shooter, and police said the entire incident was captured on surveillance video. 

According to previous testimony:

Queen had been asked to leave the bar after making lewd comments to women, then got in a fight with other bargoers on the way out. Outside, Queen lay down on a trailer and Hopson stood nearby and asked him if he needed him to call someone to give him a ride.

Queen suddenly pulled a gun from his pocket, got up and started firing.

After shooting Hopson, he then pointed the gun at two other men and pulled the trigger, but the gun apparently misfired and they were not hurt. Bargoers tackled him, took his gun and held him until police arrived.