It remains to be seen if a March trial date will have to be pushed back now that a judge has ordered a competency hearing for a Niles teenager accused of murdering his elderly neighbor..

During Wednesday's pre-trial hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for 17-year-old Jacob Larosa, Judge Wyatt McKay granted a defense request for testing to determine if Larosa is mentally fit to stand trial.

Larosa was only 15-years-old when he was charged with the beating death of 94-year-old Marie Belcastro on March 31, 2015.

A hearing on a defense motion to suppress some of the evidence in the case has been postponed until Larosa's competency can be determined.

Investigators say they found liquor bottles missing from Belcastro's home, and video surveillance shows a man they believe to be Larosa carrying liquor bottles through the neighborhood.

Although Larosa was a juvenile at the time of the crime, he is scheduled to go on trial as an adult in March on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and attempted rape.

The Ohio Supreme Court has refused to reverse the lower court's decision to try Larosa as an adult.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that the decision could be appealed after Larosa's trial.

The next pre-trial in the case is scheduled for February 8.