updated 11:18 a.m. ET Nov. 13, 2009

VERNON, Conn. - A judge has scheduled a probable cause hearing for the man accused of fatally stabbing University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard last month.

Twenty-one-year-old John Lomax, of Bloomfield, Conn., made a brief appearance Friday in Rockville Superior Court, where a judge scheduled the hearing for Dec. 17.

Defendants charged with murder in Connecticut have the right to a probable cause hearing, during which a judge decides whether there's enough evidence for prosecutors to take the case to trial.

UConn coach Randy Edsall and Howard's mother and stepfather attended Friday's hearing.

Howard, who was from Miami, was stabbed Oct. 18 during a fight outside a school-sponsored dance.

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