Convicted murderer faces retrial in 2nd Tucson girl’s death

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A man already convicted of murdering a Tucson teenager in 2014 is scheduled to be retried in the kidnapping and death of a 6-year-old girl.

Pima County prosecutors said the retrial of 41-year-old Christopher Clements is scheduled to begin on Sept. 12 and last four weeks.

Clements has been charged with first-degree murder, burglary and kidnapping a minor under the age of 15 in relation to Isabel Celis’ death and disappearance.

He was tried on the same charges in February, but a mistrial was declared when jurors could not agree on the murder count.

In a separate case last year, Clements was sentenced to life in prison for the 2014 death of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez.

A different jury heard Clements’ first murder trial involving Celis, who was reported missing from her bedroom in her parents’ Tucson home in April 2012.

Clements, a convicted sex offender with a long criminal record, was arrested in 2018 and indicted on 22 felony counts in the girls’ deaths.

Gonzalez disappeared while walking to a friend’s house in June 2014 and authorities said her body was found days later.

Celis’ remains were not recovered until 2017. Authorities said Clements was identified as a suspect in March of that year after he led federal investigators to her remains in exchange for the dropping of unrelated charges.

According to Tucson police, Clements said he had nothing to do with Celis’ death and he only knew the location of the body.