CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man charged with killing a UNC Charlotte professor was supposed be in court Thursday for a plea agreement hearing, but his attorneys didn't show up.
Prosecutors say Donny Franklin killed his girlfriend, Jeannine Skinner, inside his apartment in Steele Creek last September.
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Skinner was a psychology professor at UNCC and was working on her Ph.D. from Howard University.
In January, prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty against Franklin.
Skinner's family traveled to Charlotte Thursday for the hearing. One called the delay "a slap in the face."
The prosecutor told the judge he had not been able to reach the attorneys and apologized to Skinner's family and friends and said that they would have to try again Friday.
“Painful? Very painful, but it looks like that was a planned move,” Jeannine Skinner’s aunt Angela Skinner said.
Prosecutors said the defense team messed up their scheduling, and that's why they weren't there. They said they could try again Friday.
“’It's sad’ is the best word, but we're going to move it to tomorrow’s meeting and God has a plan, and we're going to wait for that day,” UNCC professor Kathleen West said.
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