An East County judge Friday scheduled a May 18 preliminary hearing for a teenager and five young adults in connection with a fight that resulted in the death of a homeless man in Santee.
The defendants face 29 years to life in prison if convicted in the death of 55-year-old Stephen Lee Hissom.
Cassidy Rowin, 18, Sarah Baillie, 18, Tyler Dare, 19, Brian Kish, 19, Danny Swan III, 19, and Cheyenne Maloof, who was 16 when arrested and is being prosecuted as an adult, are charged with murder and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
Judge Daniel Goldstein scheduled a May 18 preliminary hearing, at which a prosecutor will present evidence and a judge will decide whether to order a trial for the defendants.
Authorities said Hissom and another homeless man, 49-year-old Edward Allen, were riding bikes on Nov. 29, along a path in the 9300 block of Mission Gorge Road, under a state Route 52 overpass, when they got into an argument with the defendants. The reason for the altercation has not been made public.
Allen was injured but declined medical attention at the scene, authorities said.
—City News Service
