Bail increased for murder suspect
A Lakeport man charged with attempted murder to an elderly now faces a bail increase that exceeds $1.2 million.
Steven Michael Fredericks, 48, was in custody and recently appeared at the Lake County Superior Court in Lakeport to have his bail reviewed. At the request of the defense, however, the hearing was dropped and the Court decided to increase the defendant’s bail to $1,275,000.
The People stated this was due to the matter not being a special circumstance case.
Fredericks is charged with attempted murder, causing injury to an elder adult and assault with a deadly weapon.
The charges stem from an incident last month when Lake County Sheriff Deputies responded to reports of a stabbing just after 6:30 a.m. in the 6300 block of Lyons Road, across Highway 29 from the Nice-Lucerne cutoff exit. When deputies arrived they located a man dead at the scene from what looked to be stab wounds. Also at the scene was a woman suffering from cuts to her neck — she was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Witnesses at the scene identified Fredericks as the suspect, informing deputies he had fled to a nearby patch of woods immediately after the incident. Fredericks emerged from the woods and surrendered.
A plea entry hearing has been scheduled for May 1 at 8:15 a.m. in Department 4. The defendant is ordered to be present.
Jury Trial dates vacated in fatal crash case
Raymondo Valero Meza, 56, of Chico, was in custody appearing for his settlement hearing facing charges of gross vehicular manslaughter.
Earlier this year the Court relieved J. David Markham as counsel for the defendant and appointed Thomas G. Feimer to represent Meza, but recently Feimer is no longer serving Meza as Defense Attorney Anakalia Sullivan was newly appointed.
Meza is charged with two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, one count of manslaughter, DUI and possession of a controlled substance.
The charges were a result of a vehicle accident in November 2016 when a woman died, and two others suffered major injuries in a head-on collision on Highway 20.
Meza was reportedly driving eastbound on Highway 20 at a high rate of speed in a 1990 Chevrolet pickup. At the same time the victim, a 45-year-old woman from Weed, was approaching the opposite direction in a 2016 Honda Civic.
Just after 12:15 p.m., near milestone marker 37, Meza’s vehicle crossed double yellow lines directly in the path of the car and smashed into the Honda head-on.
During a media statement, CHP officer Greg Buchholz noted the incident happened so quickly that “the Honda driver was unable to avoid the collision.”
Neither Meza nor his passenger, whose identity was not released by authorities, were wearing safety belts and both suffered significant injuries and were transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
The victim, who was wearing a safety belt, died at the scene due to the severity of her injuries.
According to Buchholz, alcohol or drugs appear to be a factor in the accident.
Meza had not been in immediate custody while undergoing treatment during the investigation, but on May 10, 2017, he was arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail on a felony arrest warrant.
Being Defense Attorney Sullivan was just recently appointed to represent Meza, she requested and was granted a continuance in this matter. The jury trial dates have been vacated, and its re-setting were said to take place this week.
