Nicholas Luerkens trial set for July

The Cedar Rapids man accused of ambushing and killing 29-year-old Lynnsey Donald in a Marion grocery store parking lot in April will be tried July 20 in Linn County District Court.

A judge set the trial last week after Nicholas Luerkens, 32, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

According to a criminal complaint, Luerkens ambushed his former girlfriend and stabbed her multiple times April 22 in the parking lot of the Marion Hy-Vee. The fatal attack was captured on video from a nearby surveillance camera, and several people in the parking lot also witnessed the crime.

Donald's family members said the woman's 7-year-old son was one of those witnesses.

Luerkens then attempted to kill himself by stabbing himself in the stomach, according to the complaint. He underwent surgery for his injuries and was released from the hospital a few days later.

Marion investigators say Donald and Luerkens once lived together, but she had moved out months before the attack.

Luerkens remains in the Linn County Jail on a $1 million cash bond.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com