- Home
- Solano News
- US / World
- Opinion
- Living
- Entertainment
- Sports
- Business
- Obituaries
- Comics
- Gallery
- Classifieds
- Advertisers
- Coupons
- Contact Us
1,067
1,672
Probable cause hearing delayed in Parkway Gardens slaying case
Marcel Rutherford-Chew
FAIRFIELD — A probable cause hearing for a suspect in a double homicide in the middle of the Parkway Gardens town houses was postponed Tuesday.
Marcel Rutherford-Chew, 19, faces a pair of murder charges for the shooting deaths of two of his friends. He has pleaded not guilty.
Judge E. Bradley Nelson rescheduled Rutherford-Chew’s probable cause hearing for Feb. 13, 2013.
Rutherford-Chew was not the triggerman, according to police. They say he was one of a group of four men who went to the town houses off Dover Avenue to buy some marijuana on the afternoon of March 7.
While the marijuana purchase was taking place in a nearby town house, an armed robbery with Rutherford-Chew was attempted in the parking lot, according to court records. Two of Rutherford-Chew’s companions, his cousin Vedell J. Chew and Bernard Knight, died in the gunfire.
The suspected triggerman, Blake Johnson, 22, is now a key witness for the prosecution in the case against Rutherford-Chew.
Rutherford-Chew’s defense attorney, Robert Warshawsky, asked for the postponement so he could explore more fully the details of Johnson’s recent arrests for alleged felony firearm possession offenses.
Johnson is scheduled to be in court Wednesday to be arraigned on the felony charges. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
In his most recent arrest, Johnson was traveling on North Texas Street with three companions on Oct. 27 when police stopped their car around 5:45 p.m. Police searched one of the passengers and found a semiautomatic handgun stuffed in his waistband.
That led to a search of the car and the other men in the car, which turned up a total of four semiautomatic handguns. All four men including Johnson were arrested on suspicion of felony offenses. Johnson was out of jail on bail for similar felony charges at the time of the car stop and his arrest, according to court records.
Reach Jess Sullivan at 427-6919 or jsullivan@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jsullivandr.
Jess Sullivan
Discussion | 1 comment
The Daily Republic does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy
Recent Posts
The D.A. in this County is a JOKE!December 19, 2012 - 7:56 pm
When suspects of ILLEGAL activity pull a Gun and kill other Suspects participating in that Illegal activity...That's not self defense....It's Murder during the commission of a crime! This Blake Johnson should be on trial for Murder just like the other Suspect! Hey Solano DA...get a frickin clue!
Reply |