Husband and wife Michael Schumacher and Kelly Lau, neighbor Anthony Waiters and a woman named Carén Ramirez face 13 felony charges for allegedly torturing a teenager, named Kyle in court papers, for more than a year.
The four allegedly kept the victim chained to a fireplace, where they beat him with a baseball bat and burned, cut, drugged and starved him, prosecutors say.
In December 2008, Kyle — then 17 years old — escaped from the house by jumping over the backyard wall into the parking lot of In-Shape City on Tracy Boulevard.
Last month, The Stockton Record reported that Judge Terrence Van Oss urged the defendants to take a plea bargain to avoid testimony by the teen. But no deals have been made since, according to deputy district attorney Angela Hayes.
Van Oss set the pretrial hearing to continue Sept. 13 at the San Joaquin County Courthouse in Stockton. A trial date has been set for Oct. 12.
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If this case does go to trial and he has an opportunity to testify, these creeps could likely get convicted. A conviction would make a civil case against them easier to win and could, in the end, provide Kyle with monetary compensation he could use to get move on and create a good life for himself. I just want this boy to heal, move on, and have a good life.