Updated

A San Francisco judge is deciding whether to schedule a murder trial for a Mexican national deported from the United States five times before shooting a young woman walking with her father.

A preliminary hearing on the matter is scheduled to resume Thursday in San Francisco. A judge could decide to schedule a murder trial as well.

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to murder charges, though he admits to firing the shot that killed Kathryn Steinle on July 1. Lopez-Sanchez said the shooting was an accident.

He said he found a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol under a bench on San Francisco's Pier 14. He said the gun accidentally fired when he picked it up.