Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis judge is stepping away from the case of a police officer accused of killing a female colleague while playing a variation of Russian roulette.

Circuit Judge David Roither on Friday recused himself following a motion from the attorney for Officer Nathaniel Hendren. The motion said Roither's comments at an earlier hearing suggested bias against Hendren.

St. Louis Police Officer Nathaniel Hendren leaves the Justice Center after making bail on Jan. 31, 2019. Hendren is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Office Katlyn Alix. Colter Peterson / The St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

Among other things, Roither said at the hearing that as a hunter he knows you "don't point a muzzle at anything you don't intend to shoot."

Hendren is charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Jan. 24 death of Officer Katyln Alix. Prosecutors say Hendren and Alix took turns pointing a gun loaded with one bullet at each other and pulling the trigger. Alix was shot in the chest.