A juror whose illness led to a three-day pause at the trial of a man accused in the 2017 killings of two Coronado High School students has tested negative for COVID-19, averting a potential mistrial, a state courts spokesman confirmed.

The case against Marco Garcia-Bravo is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday after surviving its third pandemic-related delay. The trial, which began in mid-September, was previously suspended for two weeks after an unspecified coronavirus exposure and for several days after an earlier scare in which a juror tested negative for the virus after displaying worrisome symptoms.

State courts spokesman Jon Sarche, who confirmed the latest negative test result, said the trial was not in session Monday.

A juror testing positive for coronavirus could mean that other members of the jury were exposed, although jurors have been wearing masks and following other safety protocols meant to reduce the risk of transmission. The panel has four alternates, providing a buffer in case up to four jurors cannot complete their service.

A mistrial would mean canceling the rest of the trial and starting over at a later date with a new jury.

Last week’s suspension came just more than a week after Shakes ordered a jailed woman testify as a witness in court despite her testing positive for coronavirus three weeks earlier, despite complaints from woman’s attorney that she had recently displayed symptoms. Shakes responded he was following the county’s public health guidance, and that a protective barrier was put up in front of the witness stand.

The two-week suspension in early November coincided with a record-setting coronavirus outbreak at the El Paso County jail, where more than 800 inmates and up to 73 employees contracted the virus. As of Friday, 23 inmates were positive for COVID-19 and 9 employees had active infections, according to the Sheriff’s Office website.

The defendant’s trial is excluded from a ban on new jury trials through the end of the year amid El Paso County’s heightened coronavirus risk.  

Garcia-Bravo is the last of 10 defendants linked to an alleged gang plot that authorities say culminated in the deaths of 16-year-old Natalie Cano-Partida and 15-year-old Derek Greer in March 2017. Charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, Garcia-Bravo is suspected of serving as one of two shooters who executed the pair at point-blank range along a rural road outside Fountain after they were abducted from a party in Colorado Springs.