Former Pa. basketball player facing trial in slaying

READING, Pa. (AP) — A former basketball standout at a high school in Reading has been ordered to stand trial in a fatal stabbing.

A judge today ordered 19-year-old Anthony Clay-Rappaselli to face trial on first- and third-degree murder charges in the killing of 33-year-old Robert Bell as he walked down the street. Police say the two men knew each other and had exchanged words before the daytime April 24 attack, which happened outside a church.

Clay-Rappaselli was arrested several weeks later. Authorities say he was in a relationship with the victim’s daughter and has two children with her.

Clay-Rappaselli was a standout basketball player at Reading High School last season. He is in Berks County Prison without bail.