LAKEPORT— A Lakeport man charged with the fatal stabbing of his father and the attempted murder of his mother, along with additional charges, may not face a jury trial in January.
Steven Michael Fredericks, 49, was in custody and recently appeared at the Lake County Superior Court in Lakeport for a master calendar call. Last year the preliminary hearing which was scheduled to be heard Oct. 24 had been vacated and now, according to defense, a preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 4 is not likely not to be held as well.
Defense represents that the People have not received a doctor’s report from Dr. Kelly and requests a continuance to allow Kelly reasonable time to prepare the report and allow the People to review it. It is not likely the Preliminary Hearing will be held.
Fredericks is charged with two counts of murder, attempted murder, causing injury to an elder adult and assault with a deadly weapon.
The charges stem from an incident in March of this year 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 (Frederick’s father) dead at the scene from what looked to be stab wounds. Also at the scene was a woman (Frederick’s mother) 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 preliminary hearing has been set for Feb. 4 at 8:15 a.m. in Department 3 but it is not likely the preliminary hearing will be held due to the anticipated report from Dr. Kelly. More details regarding Dr. Kelly’s report will follow as the defendant is ordered to be present and remains in custody with bail set at $1,275,000.
