{"id":2987,"date":"2026-07-08T23:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987"},"modified":"2026-07-08T23:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:34:50","slug":"trial-delayed-for-man-accused-of-killing-arizona-ballet-dancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987","title":{"rendered":"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

PHOENIX \u2014 A Valley man accused of shooting and killing his ballerina wife in 2022 will not go to trial this month.<\/p>\n

Read more DATA: Three Valley cities top WalletHub list of best places to rent in U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

Christopher Hoopes is charged with second-degree murder. Tempe police say he shot and killed his 25-year-old ballerina wife in the middle of the night at their Tempe home. She was a dancer for Ballet Arizona.<\/p>\n

The trial was originally scheduled for July, but prosecutors now say the trial likely won\u2019t happen until 2027. They say the case is complex. Hoopes also changed defense attorneys, which also led to delays.<\/p>\n

At a recent court hearing, Maricopa County Judge Monica Edelstein said she anticipates the trial could be up to two months long with multiple defense witnesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a significant case on both sides,\u201d she said in court.<\/p>\n

ABC15 has covered this case extensively from the beginning.<\/p>\n

Hoopes has pleaded not guilty. As ABC15 has previously reported<\/u>, court records show he may use an unusual defense called \u201cinvoluntary intoxication,\u201d where he may claim medication he was taking made him unaware of his actions that night.<\/p>\n

Body camera video from Tempe police<\/u> that night shows Hoopes telling officers who responded to his home that he was asleep for three hours. He says he woke up startled and grabbed his gun out of his nightstand.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump must pay $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll, judge says<\/a><\/p>\n

“It was like a dream. I don’t know. Like, I just woke up in a panic,\u201d he told the officer.<\/p>\n

He then told the officer he grabbed the gun, stood up, and shot.<\/p>\n

“I fired at my wife.”<\/p>\n

“Then I realized it was her.”<\/p>\n

The police officer asks Hoopes how many times he shot.<\/p>\n

“I think three times,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Hoopes goes on to say:<\/p>\n

“At first, when I shot her, I didn’t, I thought it was someone else.”<\/p>\n

At his recent court hearing, prosecutors said they anticipate hiring experts of their own based on the experts Hoopes plans to use in his defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not believe this case can be tried before February,\u201d Frankie Grimsman, a deputy county attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office, told the judge.<\/p>\n

She said any trial date that they pick is \u201cnot realistic at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grimsman told the judge that prosecutors are not making a plea offer in this case, however, \u201cwe\u2019re always willing to negotiate. But I need to evaluate what their experts are saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email ABC15 Reporter Anne Ryman\u202fat\u00a0<\/i>anne.ryman@abc15.com<\/u><\/i>, call her at <\/i>602-685-6345<\/i>, or\u00a0<\/i>connect on X<\/u><\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Judge dismisses Prince Harry\u2019s privacy lawsuit against publisher of Daily Mail<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Valley man accused of shooting and killing his ballerina wife in 2022 will not go to trial this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Valley man accused of shooting and killing his ballerina wife in 2022 will not go to trial this month.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T23:34:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T23:34:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987\"},\"wordCount\":463,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987\",\"name\":\"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer - Arizona Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T23:34:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2987#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arizona Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer - Arizona Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer - Arizona Moving Insider","og_description":"A Valley man accused of shooting and killing his ballerina wife in 2022 will not go to trial this month.","og_url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987","og_site_name":"Arizona Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-07-08T23:34:50+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb"},"headline":"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer","datePublished":"2026-07-08T23:34:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987"},"wordCount":463,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987","name":"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer - Arizona Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-08T23:34:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fb934efa630148e5736095372ad776e1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2987#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trial delayed for man accused of killing Arizona ballet dancer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/","name":"Arizona Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}