Ashlen Zitel had preliminary hearings scheduled in the two felony cases she's facing during an appearance in Gage County Court on Tuesday. Zitel, 28, of Beatrice was arrested Sept. 7 with Austin Meyn of Beatrice in connection with the death of a 4-month-old in August. She faces a felony charge of negligent child abuse that causes death and a misdemeanor charge of negligent child abuse in that case. In October, a second case was brought against her alleging sexual assault of a minor child, a Class 1 felony, and intentional child abuse, a Class 3 felony. Judge Jeffrey Gaertig scheduled the hearings in the two cases for Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. for the first case and 3:30 for the second.
