Four other defendants who face charges related to the shooting will have two separate preliminary hearings, which are held so a judge can decide whether there is enough evidence for a trial.
At a short court hearing this morning, Cecelia Naomi Colon, 21, and Maria le la Luz Martinez, 21, appeared with Michael Dwayne Mau, 24, Elvis Mendoza, 25, and Johnny Joseph Martinez, 25.
Judge George Abdallah, prosecutor Tori Verber and defense attorneys agreed on a Jan. 19 date for a preliminary hearing for Mau, Mendoza and Johnny Martinez.
Mau faces 13 counts of homicide and street terrorism, and he’s accused of being in a gang. Johnny Martinez and Mendoza face charges of being accessories after the fact and charges of street terrorism. Mendoza is out of jail having posted bail, set earlier at $300,000.
On Tuesday, Abdallah, Verber and defense attorneys Markus Mueller-Dombois and Kristine Eagle will try to agree on a date for a preliminary hearing for co-defendants Colon, 21, and Maria Martinez, 21. Bail for Maria Martinez, now set at $300,000, will also be discussed.
It was decided in a separate hearing this morning that a preliminary hearing will take place at 9 a.m. Wednesday for Natalie Elizabeth Martinez, 45, and Julissa Marie Martinez, 19, who face charges of being accessories after the fact and of street terrorism.
Julissa Martinez and Johnny Martinez are brother and sister, and Natalie Martinez is their mother. Maria de la Luz Martinez is unrelated.
Prosecutors say Mau fired a gun through the door of Amore’s after he and two other men were kicked out of an after-hours party. One bullet killed Naim Bey, 41, the married father of two children, and six other people were shot as well, but were treated and released from hospitals.
The other defendants are accused of having a role in Mau’s escape.
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