Trial date in Welty case postponed

CLAYTON, Mo. - The first-degree murder trial of a 15-year-old southeast Missouri boy is postponed.

Owen Welty of Bloomfield, Mo., was set to be tried Monday in St. Louis County on a change of venue. But Circuit Judge John Ross' office says Thursday that the prosecutor and defense attorney are seeking a new trial date.

Welty is charged with killing 64-year-old neighbor Don McCollough in November 2006 at his farm east of Bloomfield. Welty was 13 at the time. He is being held at the St. Louis County jail.

He will be tried as an adult, and faces life in prison if convicted.

Experts have said Welty is schizophrenic and suffers from a depressive disorder with psychotic features. He would be among the youngest people ever tried as an adult in a Missouri murder case.