FRESNO, Calif. – Byron Rangel, one of the teenagers charged with killing 18-year-old Caleb Quick in Clovis in April, will continue to remain in custody for the foreseeable future. A judge made the ruling at Rangel’s second court appearance on Wednesday.
The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office last month charged 16-year-old Rangel and 16-year-old Cassandra Michael with murder following the April shooting death of Quick outside a Clovis McDonald’s.
Investigators believe Rangel to be the male suspect who was captured on surveillance footage dressed in all black and appearing to follow Quick inside the restaurant shortly before the deadly shooting.
The other suspect, Michael, is believed to be the female who drove a white Tesla in the area where the male suspect fled.
In a courtroom at Fresno County Superior Court’s Juvenile Justice campus court on Wednesday, Rangel’s legal team requested that he be released from juvenile detention. They argued that the teenager’s background makes him a low risk for committing another crime.
But Fresno County Superior Court Judge David Kalemkarian denied the request due to the gravity of the charges.
Recording equipment was not allowed in the courtroom, but Rangel’s defense attorney Mark Coleman spoke to media after the hearing.
He said, the 16-year-old has “no prior criminal history, youthfulness, good parents.”
“All of that points towards release. The only factor that didn't is the seriousness of the offense,” Coleman added.
Coleman also offered details that seem to hint at where this case may be going. He said Quick’s shooting wasn’t random, but that instead Quick was targeted. Without providing specific details, Coleman said allegations have been made against Quick.
“The allegation by the police is that this occurred as a result of a sexual assault,” he said.
Although similar rumors have circulated online ever since Quick’s murder, officials with the Clovis Police Department wouldn’t comment on those allegations because the investigation is ongoing.
Despite being in custody, Rangel has not officially entered a plea in court. But Coleman and his other lawyers appear poised to fight the charges.
“At this point we've denied all the allegations, which in juvenile court is the equivalent of a not guilty plea,” Coleman said.
Last month, Attorney Jeff Hammerschmidt began his defense of Cassandra Michael.
Hammerschmidt told reporters he, too, intends to deny the charges when she appears in front of a judge later this month.
He said Michael knew nothing of the firearm that Rangel allegedly carried with him the day of the murder, and said Michael’s record is squeaky clean.
“There's nothing in her past that suggests that she would intentionally be part of a murder that involved a firearm and a killing in open public,” he said.
Michael will appear in court on June 18, at which point a judge will determine if she should remain in custody until future court appearances. Rangel’s next hearing is in July.
