A new attorney for LaShawn R. Cecil, who was charged last month with the murder of Jaclyn Wirth in Norwich in 2011, said Thursday in New London Superior Court that he intends to have a probable cause hearing in the case. 

Cecil, 33, of Norwich is charged with murder, felony murder, criminal possession of a firearm and criminal attempt to commit first-degree burglary. He was represented initially by Bruce A. Sturman, the chief public defender in New London, but Sturman asked to withdraw from the case after discovering he had previously represented somebody associated with the case. Attorney William T. Koch Jr., a private lawyer under contract with the state to represent indigent defendants, was appointed. 

Standing with Cecil, who wore a neon orange prison jumpsuit, Koch told Judge Hillary B. Strackbein that the defense would be having a hearing in probable cause, at which the state would have to prove to a judge that there is enough evidence to prosecute Cecil for murder. 

Strackbein continued the case to April 21 so that Koch could familiarize himself with the evidence. 

Cecil is accused of firing at least nine shots through the front door of Wirth’s apartment, 6D East Baltic St. in the Mohegan Common Apartments, on Dec. 14, 2011. Wirth, a 26-year-old mother of two, succumbed to her injuries, and her oldest son witnessed her last moments. 

Norwich Police, working with the New London County Cold Case Task Force, had obtained a warrant for Cecil’s arrest in February. Cecil, who already was incarcerated for an unrelated shooting, is being held in lieu of $2,150,000 at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield. 

At Thursday’s hearing, the judge granted prosecutor Paul J. Narducci’s request that an arrest warrant affidavit detailing the case against Cecil remain sealed at least until Cecil’s next court date. Narducci said police are continuing to investigate “ancillary issues” in the case and that unsealing the affidavit could jeopardize witnesses. 

Cecil turned to three women in the audience and said, “I love you,” as he was being led back to the courthouse lockup.