A public hearing in the case of the July 24, 2014 murder of Chinese USC graduate student Ji Xinran took place at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal JusticeCenter in Los Angeles on Thursday morning.

Three of the four defendants - Jonathan Del Carmen, 19, Alberto Ochoa, 18, and Alejandra Guerro, 16 - were present in the courtroom. Judge James R. Brandlin granted their attorneys' request to postpone the arraignment until March 4.

A trial must begin within 60 days of the arraignment.

Defense attorney Christopher C. Chaney said that an arraignment delay was not unusual since the death penalty was still a possibility in the case.

The preliminary hearing in the case took place in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan 13-14. Prosecutors made their case for trying DelCarmen, Ochoa and Guerrero for murder and other crimes, including a robbery at Dockweiler State Beach a few hours after Ji's killing.

Footage captured by two security cameras near Ji's apartment and shown at the hearing showed a group of teens attacking Ji as he walked home after studying past midnight.

The fourth defendant, Andrew Garcia, 19, has also been charged with murder and robbery but after an outburst in court on Jan 13 a judge ordered a Feb 3 hearing to determine if Garcia is mentally competent to stand trial.

At Thursday's hearing, the accused refused to plead guilty, requesting to be informed the sentencing results before deciding to plea.

Ji Xinran, the then 24-year-old Chinese electrical engineering graduate student at USC, was hit repeatedly with a bat during an attempted robbery around 12:45 am on July 24, 2014 as he walked to his off-campus apartment after a late-night study session.

A trail of blood ran for almost a quarter of a mile from the spot where Ji was left in a heap on the pavement to his apartment, where he was found dead hours later.

Ji's family members were not in court Thursday.

"The only hope is to see justice be done, it's the only consolation," said Rose Tsai, an attorney for Ji's parents.

After the hearing, Tsai referred to the dozens of strangers from the Chinese community who feel connected to Ji's story. "The victim's family can always count on the support of the Chinese community here in Southern California," Tsai said.

"We know it takes time for the justice to finally arrive. Sometimes this kind of case can last for years. However, we still hope the court can close this case as soon as possible, since Ji's family has suffered a lot," a Los Angeles resident told China Daily.

Ji is the third USC student to be murdered in the past three years. Qu Ming and Wu Ying, both 23-year-old engineering students at the USC, were shot and killed on April 11, 2012, while sitting in a parked car near the campus.

Security concerns from students and the public have been on the rise since then. USC's departments of public safety and emergency planning launched a mobile safety app last November to strengthen safety on and off campus, especially for the international students. The free downloadable app, called LiveSafe, lets smartphone users contact emergency responders around the campus.

USC has organized an online social media group to provide supports to Ji's family by keeping Chinese students posted by the case progresses and upcoming court schedule and encouraging Chinese students to attend as many hearings as possible.

Zhang Chi contributed to this story.

cindyliu@chinadailyusa.com