Dunbar rape trial date set

Wednesday a judge set a trial date for three young men charged in the Dunbar Village rape case. As now scheduled the trial would take place almost two years after the crime.

The defendants were all in court Wednesday-- Avion Lawson, who's now 15; Nathan Walker, now age 18; and Tommy Lee Poindexter, who just turned 20. They're accused of raping and beating a mother and her son in the Dunbar Village public housing complex in West Palm Beach in 2007.

Lawyers for the young men told Judge Sandra McSorley they expect to ask for separate trials. Still the judge set a May 6 trial date for all three.

A fourth defendant, Jakaris Taylor, who's now 17, has taken a plea deal giving him 20 years in prison. Part of the deal is he must cooperate with investigators. He has started giving a statement to lawyers and is expected to resume that deposition at a later date. Taylor's official sentencing will take place after the cases of the other defendants are resolved.

What Taylor says could impact whether the other suspects also plead out, or go to trial. Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek has said in the past, knowing what the mother and son experienced, she hopes to keep them from having to relive their nightmare on the witness stand.