UPDATED STORY:
Jill Lebenson says a legal process that has been slow and painful seems to be moving forward.
"This is a family, and my friend lost her daughter," Lebenson says. "Her daughter was murdered."
Monday morning, a Palm Beach County judge targeted January 2017 as a potential start date for the trial of Kimberly Lucas.
Lucas is accused of drowning her former partner Jacquelyn Jamason's 2 year old daughter back in 2014.
"The feeling that they are being proactive and they're getting things done would make everyone feel happy," Lebenson says.
Jameson was emotional as she left the courtroom Monday morning.
"I think she would like to have the case over with," says Jim Eisenberg, one of the attorney's assisting Jameson's family. "I think she'd like to have it done."
Next up - a hearing in March to determine whether the death penalty should be removed as an option in the case.
A monumental court decision last month changed the way Florida handles capital punishment.
"The United States Supreme Court clearly says that the Florida death penalty procedure scheme is unconstitutional," Eisenberg says. "So...the death penalty has to be stricken."
This week, a senate panel is set to consider a plan to revamp the state's death penalty system.
It remains to be seen how those potential changes will affect Lucas's case moving forward.
That death penalty hearing is scheduled for March 4th at 11am.
A status check on the case is set for August.
EARLIER STORY:
A hearing was held Monday morning for a Jupiter woman accused of killing a toddler two years ago.
Kimberly Lucas is accused of drowning her former partner's 2-year-old daughter in 2014.
Relatives of the child have expressed frustration at how long it’s taking for the case to go to trial.
One delay was caused last September. Lucas was assigned a public defender after her then attorney removed himself from the case.
At Monday’s hearing the judge targeted January 2017 as a potential start for the trial.
Another hearing is set for March 4. At that time attorneys for Lucas will argue for the removal of the death penalty in this case since the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that state’s current death penalty is unconstitutional.
