Two men accused of having committed felonies in the Santa Clarita Valley returned to court on Thursday, each receiving a future court date to appear once again.
David Figueroa
A Pacoima man accused of killing his friend he met while both were in rehab together returned to court on Thursday.
David Alonso Figueroa, 40, appeared in San Fernando Superior Court and was told to return June 10 for a readiness hearing.
A readiness hearing usually concerns the parties involved, from both the prosecution and defense, resolving pretrial motions, reviewing discovery, and taking care of any other pretrial matters.
On July 30, 2018, detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau began investigating the stabbing death of 29-year-old Brent Hariston, of Canyon Country.
Hariston and Figueroa, according to the late Homicide Detective John Corina, met in rehab.
The two men, according to Corina, were scheduled to meet up that morning and head to work together. An argument then is believed to have broken out between the two, and that’s when detectives believe Figueroa pulled out a knife and stabbed Hariston multiple times.
The suspect then allegedly fled the scene right as deputies were pulling up. The victim’s mother had called the Sheriff’s Department when she first saw the altercation.
Deputies established a containment in the neighborhood and eventually found and apprehended Figueroa, who they believe to be the suspect.
The stabbing victim was rushed to the hospital but died later in the hospital, Corina said, describing the stabbing wounds as in the upper body.
“We found the murder weapon at the scene,” Corina said at the time. “It was a few houses down from the house where Hariston was found.”
Isaac Phillips
A Canyon Country man accused of raping a woman via the use of drugs and alcohol returned to court this court.
Isaac Phillips, 20, was arrested in September in connection to an attack that occurred in March on the 27000 block of Sophia Lane in Canyon Country, according to Sgt. Brian Hudson, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau.
Phillips is set to return to court on June 9 for a prelim setting. During a prelim setting, the judge and opposing counsels agree on a date for a preliminary hearing — when the bench decides if there’s enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
