COURTLAND—Based on a motion by the defense, a judge granted the hearing be continued for a Suffolk man accused of killing a Franklin man. Sol “Dukey” Damascus Burke was scheduled for the pre-trial hearing on Tuesday. That date has been reset for Thursday, Dec. 12, and the jury trial is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3, both in Southampton County Circuit Court.

Burke, 25, is charged with the first-degree murder of Eric “E.T.” Smith, when Smith answered the door at his mother’s Pearl Street home on Nov. 8.

The suspect was rumored to have allegedly killed Smith after Smith beat him up in September during an attempted robbery in Southampton County.

Burke eluded police and other law enforcement for two months before capture in Chesapeake. He was arrested without incident.

Another person who worked with the suspect in the crime was La’mon Frederick Bradshaw, who was 17 at the time of the incident. A jury later found him guilty of the second-degree murder, as well as the use of a firearm in the commission of a murder, shooting in public and three counts of shooting at an occupied dwelling. A pre-sentence report has been ordered for Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Other charges that Burke faces are shooting and stabbing in the commission of a felony; the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, first offense; possession of a firearm by a violent felon; and seven counts of shooting at an occupied building.