RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.—The man acquitted in the death of a former beauty queen says he’ll appeal Arkansas Tech University’s decision to deny him admission for the fall semester.

Kevin Jones, who was acquitted in the 2005 death of his girlfriend Nona Dirksmeyer, says he believes his murder trial was the reason he was denied admission to the Russellville university.

“It feels like if this didn’t happen to me, they would have let me in,” Jones told Little Rock television station KATV.

According to Jones, the school said it rejected his application because he didn’t send the proper transcripts and that there were safety concerns about having him on campus.

A university spokesman declined comment, only saying that administrators make admissions decisions.

Jones, who studied last semester at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, said he wants to become a lawyer.

Dirksmeyer, 19, was found dead Dec. 15, 2005, in her apartment by Jones, Jones’ mother and a friend of Jones. The prosecution says Dirksmeyer was choked and beaten, stabbed and slashed with a knife, and her skull was fractured with the base of a floor lamp. A jury last year acquitted Jones of first-degree murder.

Dirksmeyer, who was a student at Arkansas Tech, was a sophomore majoring in music. She also won Miss Petit Jean Valley in 2005 and competed in the Miss Arkansas Pageant.

A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate the murder.