An April 4 preliminary hearing has been set for two people who are charged with murder and accessory in the Dec. 28, 2017, slaying of Candido D. Aragon, Jr., 21, of Spring Valley.
Aragon was found mortally wounded Dec. 27 at the intersection of Concepcion Avenue and San Francisco Street in Spring Valley at 6:52 p.m., according to the sheriff’s department.
An April 4 preliminary hearing has been set for two people who are charged with murder and accessory in the Dec. 28, 2017, slaying of Candido D. Aragon, Jr., 21, of Spring Valley.
Aragon was found mortally wounded Dec. 27 at the intersection of Concepcion Avenue and San Francisco Street in Spring Valley at 6:52 p.m., according to the sheriff’s department.
Alejandro Antonio Pearce, 19, was charged with murder and Makayla Suseberry, 18, was charged with accessory after the fact. Both have pleaded not guilty in El Cajon Superior Court.
A 17-year-old boy was also arrested and his case is believed to be in Juvenile Court where cases are confidential.
Pearce was initially arrested Dec. 29 and released until a murder charge was filed against him on Feb. 15. He was re-arrested and remains in jail on $2 million bail. Suseberry is free on $55,000 bond.
Judge orders sex offender be released in East County
A judge on Friday ordered a sex offender who has finished his sentences to be released on private property in Boulevard under the supervision of a state contracted agency.
Michael Joseph Martinez, 65, is currently housed at a state psychiatric hospital in Coalinga after a judge found he was a sexually violent predator in 2009. He had finished two terms of four years and eight years in prison.
San Diego Superior Court Judge David Gill granted the release at a hearing in which the mother of a girl he molested in 1992 spoke against the release, as did County Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
Kym Caudle, the regional coordinator for Liberty Healthcare, said Martinez will be housed on private property that has three locked fences around it.
“He won’t have independent movement – he’ll be tracked by GPS,” said Caudle.
Martinez molested a girl in 1979 after teaching at a Christian school and later molested a girl in 1982 on a church camping trip, according to court records. He was ordered to register as a sex offender in 1980.
“The back country has become a dumping ground for these offenders,” said Jacob, who noted there were eight other offenders who have been released in East County.
“He’s going to be on really strict conditions,” said the judge. “He’s already served the maximum…I think the recommended placement is appropriate.”
Trial of Spring Valley murder
Thomas Christopher Jackson, 29, was ordered Mar. 13 to stand trial for the Jan. 4 murder of Aurice J. Turk, 25, who was killed in Spring Valley.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Lantz Lewis heard from sheriff’s detectives, deputies, and others in the 2-day preliminary hearing.
A prosecutor said Jackson used gang terms prior to the shooting outside the Albertson’s grocery store at 9831 Campo Road. A 911 caller said multiple males were fighting at the location around 9 p.m.
Turk was taken to a hospital by the San Miguel Fire Department, but did not survive.
The murder trial was set for April 30. Jackson pleaded not guilty and remains in jail on $1 million bail.
Bank robber could get 125 years to life
Bryan Lee Barkley, 24, of El Cajon, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $2,878 to two tellers and a customer who were robbed at an El Cajon credit union.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill gave Barkley credit for 143 days already served in jail since his arrest Oct. 29, 2017 by El Cajon Police.
Barkley pleaded guilty to three robberies that were committed Oct. 19, 2017 at the Mission Federal Credit Union at 760 N. Johnson.
Barkley was assisting Darius Demon Lake, 28, of El Cajon, who was convicted by a jury Feb. 5 of 10 bank robberies and one attempted robbery in the “Chameleon Bandit” series that also occurred in El Cajon and elsewhere.
Lake will be sentenced April 13 and could get 125 years to life in prison as he was convicted of three other bank robberies in 2012. Lake remains in jail.
