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This undated file photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Lawyers for Brendt Christensen, an ex-University of Illinois student accused of killing Zhang say school counselors didn't offer him adequate care when he sought help for homicidal thoughts months before Zhang went missing. In a filing unsealed this week, Christensen's attorneys said he told campus counselors he'd been "ruminating" about committing murder but that his treatment by counselors had been substandard. Prosecutors say that claim would be inaccurate and irrelevant. A Tuesday, April 9, 2019, statement from the Champaign-based school says counseling center staff are trained to provide care "consistent with the best practices in mental health care nationally." (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP File)

 HONS

PEORIA, Ill. (WAND)- Preparations continue for the sentencing of Brendt Christensen for the deadly kidnapping of Yingying Zhang. 

Christensen faces either life in prison or death. Sentencing, which is expected to last a week and a half, begins July 8. 

In an order issued Thursday, Judge James Shadid allowed Christensen's defense to tell jurors about plea negotiations in the case. 

The defense also plans to call an expert in prison violence to testify about the likelihood that Christensen would cause harm while in prison. They asked Judge Shadid to limit the ways in which prosecutors could respond to or cross-examine that expert.Â