A Bakersfield murder case tied up for years is finally headed to retrial.

Prosecutors say Nicholas Quintana, 27, stabbed and robbed attorney Marcos Vargas after meeting him on a dating app.

The attack happened in 2017 when Quintana was 19 years old.

Officials say Vargas was nearly decapitated and his phone was later found in a storm drain near Quinatana’s girlfriend’s home in Long Beach.

Jurors deadlocked on the most serious charges during a trial in 2021.

Quintana now faces life without parole if convicted after the death penalty was dropped.

His new trial begins January 12, 2026.