JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 21-year-old Mt. Vernon man who earlier pleaded guilty in the murder of a Mt. Vernon cab driver during a botched 2011 robbery has been granted a substitute judge.

Christopher Wells, who was a juvenile at the time of the shooting but charged as an adult, has gone through the judicial process and pleaded guilty.

Wells is one of four men charged in connection with the fatal shooting of 75-year-old Charles Ellis in his cab on May 31, 2011.

Wells pleaded guilty in 2012 to first-degree murder but has not yet been sentenced. He has since filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea, which is still pending.

Wells appeared in court Friday with a defense attorney who made a motion to substitute Judge Barry Vaughan, which was granted.

The three others charged in with Ellis’ murder are Demandre Black, Mark Taylor Jr., and Damondros James.

Taylor is awaiting trial on three counts of first-degree murder and was recently granted a motion to substitute judges.

Black pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm in October 2015 and was sentenced to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

James pleaded guilty to felony murder and has a sentencing hearing on March 21. Part of his plea agreement requires him to cooperate in the prosecution of his co-defendants.