A Lake County judge has denied a motion for a new trial filed by Marni Yang, who was convicted in 2011 for the 2007 murder of Rhoni Reuter, the pregnant girlfriend of former Chicago Bears player Shaun Gayle. The ruling came Monday after a hearing earlier this year failed to convince the court of Yang’s innocence.

Judge Christopher Stride concluded that Yang and her defense, led by attorney Jed Stone, did not successfully challenge the weight of the evidence presented during the original trial. "The wealth of evidence proving defendant’s guilt has not been undermined by this or any of the evidence introduced at this third-stage hearing," Stride said.

Yang, now 58, was convicted of killing Reuter, who was fatally shot seven times on October 4, 2007. Prosecutors argued that jealousy motivated the crime, and Yang was sentenced to life imprisonment. Throughout the case, Yang has maintained that she did not commit the murder and has claimed she fabricated a confession made at a diner in an effort to protect her 16-year-old son from police scrutiny.

The motion for a new trial centered on new bullet trajectory evidence presented at a hearing in January. Yang’s defense suggested that her height, at 5 feet tall, would have made it difficult for her to have fired the shots that killed Reuter. However, the court found this argument insufficient to overturn the conviction.

Stone described his client as “deeply disappointed” by the ruling but said efforts to pursue justice would continue. He indicated plans to appeal the decision, potentially bringing the case before the Illinois Supreme Court and seeking federal review.

Reuter, 42, was expecting a child fathered by Gayle at the time of her death. Yang was initially arrested in 2009 and found guilty in 2011. The latest ruling preserves the life sentence imposed for the crime, as the legal process moves forward.