Defendant Luke Abrams, one of two men arrested in conjunction with the murder of Uri Sellers, is facing new but unrelated charges for his involvement in a jail fight that occurred late last month.

Story County officials said Abrams and another inmate, Patrick Cohea of Des Moines, broke into a fist fight that ended in a scuffle in the day room of the Story County Jail May 27.

After repeated orders to stop fighting, the two men finally quit. Deputies then proceeded to separate the two men and examine them for injuries.

Lt. Gary Foster of the Story County Sheriff’s Department said isolating Abrams due to his violent behavior simply is not an option.

“He’s not proved that he can get along with others, but we don’t have any other place to put him,” Foster said.

Abrams now faces charges of disorderly conduct in addition to aiding and abetting Michael Runyan in the murder of Uri Sellers, of Monroe. Runyan is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Sellers, which took place April 20 on the Adelante Fraternity lawn during the Veishea celebration. Both Abrams and Runyan are from Fort Dodge.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Trial dates for the murder have been scheduled for July 15 for both Abrams and Runyan. Whether or not the two will be tried together or separately has remained unresolved.

Abrams will be tried in District Associate Court on July 7 for the incident occurring while he was imprisoned at the Story County Jail. He has pleaded not guilty to the disorderly conduct charge.

Abrams’ attorney William H. Habhab now wants the trials to be moved out of Story County because of the prejudices he claims Abrams would face in the community. He feels that selection of a fair jury isn’t possible.

Runyan’s attorney, Public Defender Julia Keifer, has made no mention of moving the trial out of Story County.