A pretrial conference is set today in New Orleans, Louisiana, for Megan Hall, 27, the woman charged in the death of Pottsville businessman Patrick J. Murphy.

During the pretrial conference, lawyers for both sides discuss the case. A trial date isn’t set. The proceedings will occur via a virtual courtroom because of the pandemic, as had occurred during the last conference Dec. 14, court records show.

Robert Kazik, judicial administrator for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, said no trial will occur before March 1 because of a moratorium on jury trials imposed by the Louisiana Supreme Court due to the pandemic.

Hall remains in jail at the Orleans Parish Justice Center on $750,000 bond. She is charged with second-degree murder, armed robbery and obstruction of justice for the Feb. 28, 2019, killing. A grand jury voted to indict Hall in June 2019.

Police say Hall stabbing Murphy at The Empress Hotel, 1317 Ursulines St., in the Treme area of New Orleans. A hotel employee found his body at 11:41 a.m.

Murphy, who had been the owner of Murphy Jewelers, had been visiting the city with his wife after he attended a jewelry convention in Arizona.

If Hall is convicted of the murder charge, she faces a mandatory lifetime prison sentence. An armed robbery conviction is 10 to 99 years in state prison, and up to 40 years for the obstruction charge.

John Fuller, Hall’s attorney, did not return a call for comment. An attorney in the New Orleans District Attorney’s office also didn’t return calls for comment.