AUSTIN, Texas — Gavin Roberts pleaded not guilty to a murder charge on Tuesday. He is accused of stabbing Justin Haden to death in late 2022.
Roberts also entered a not guilty plea to a charge of tampering with physical evidence of a human corpse.
Police arrested Roberts on Nov. 23, 2022, after police claim he killed Haden and later drove to Colorado. Roberts and Haden were seen together at a Whole Foods on Halloween night.
According to court documents, Roberts told police he and Haden got into an argument at Haden's apartment in The Domain. Roberts told investigators Haden grabbed a knife, which Roberts said he took from him before stabbing him twice in self-defense.
The next day, investigators said Roberts was seen on security video leaving Haden's apartment with trash bags and a plastic bin. Later that evening, surveillance video showed Roberts at a McDonald's in Jarrell, just minutes away from where Haden's body was discovered a month later.
Roberts was formally charged with Haden's murder after a confession, according to an affidavit. During an interrogation, detectives say Roberts showed them where he buried Haden's body on a map.
A docket calling is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2024, and Roberts' trial is set to begin on Feb. 5.