Flint woman can stand trial for granddaughter's murder

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - A judge has decided a 75-year-old Flint woman can stand trial for the murder of her granddaughter after ruling the girl has died since her 1998 disappearance.

Lois Janish was charged in August 2013 with murder in the in the death of 14-year-old Coral Hall, whose body hasn't been found. Genesee (JEN'-uh-see) Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah ruled Friday that the murder trial can move forward and prosecutors can use statements Janish made to authorities about the disappearance of her granddaughter.

Janish's attorney asked the judge to dismiss those statements and the murder case against her client due to a lack of proof.

But Farah decided there is enough evidence outside of Janish's statements, including confessions that she killed Hall, to conclude that the girl is dead.

The Flint Journal (http://bit.ly/1CMgQEp ) reports Janish is due back in court next month.

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Information from: The Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/flint