EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (First Alert 4) – The jury trial for the man accused of paying to have his romantic rival killed has been pushed back another week.
Sammy J. Shafer Jr. is facing two charges of first-degree murder and two counts of solicitation for murder-for-hire in the shooting death of Portia Rowland. He has pleaded not guilty.
Shafer, who was denied pre-trial release, now has a jury trial scheduled to begin on January 19, 2027.
Rowland, 32, was shot and killed on the morning of Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in Collinsville. Investigators said she was warming up her car outside her home on Olive Street when she was fatally shot…