A judge has granted a prosecutor’s motion to obtain a DNA sample from a murder suspect who was arrested in the shooting death of a sailor following a fight at a nightclub in East Village on Aug. 31.

Ta’Kari Terell Benness, 20, was extradited from Minnesota after his Oct. 16 arrest for the slaying of Albert Soto, 18, who was stationed aboard a U.S. Navy vessel in San Diego.

The shooting followed an altercation in the nightclub between two groups of people that continued outside at the intersection of 9th Street and F Street.

Everyone fled, but San Diego Police eventually learned the identities of three other men with Benness that involved “tireless investigative work” with witness interviews, automated license place readers, and private security footage, according to a police press release.

Benness is the only person charged with murder and he has pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court. On Nov. 12, he appeared before Judge Rachel Cano who ordered him to submit to a DNA sample by having his mouth swabbed while in jail, according to court records.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Carberry argued the state penal code requires everyone arrested for murder is required to supply a DNA sample. In earlier years, courts have required defendants to supply blood and hair samples and have fingerprints taken.

Benness is from St. Cloud, Minn., and after the shooting, he went back there. The press release said the St. Cloud Police Department arrested Benness at an intersection in their city on Oct. 16.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 16 and Benness waived his right to have an earlier one set. He remains in jail without bail.