Two Canyon Country men accused of street racing and murder will be back in court in July, after a trial date of July 18 was set on Tuesday.

Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.

 An unsealed grand jury indictment accused Thomas Vensko and Colt Doherty of murder in the death of Dakota Demott.

Doherty, 20, is accused of being intoxicated while street racing with Vensko on Jan. 10, 2012.

Doherty reached speeds of 100 mph before he crashed into a tree near Sand Canyon Road, according to the indictment.

The indictment includes three counts for Doherty: a murder charge; a gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated charge; and a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Vensko, 21, is being charged with count 1, which is the murder charge, and count 4, which is vehicular manslaughter.

Additionally, Vensko is accused of fleeing the scene of the crime.

Doherty lost control of his car, crashing into a tree near Sand Canyon Road, according to Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies, who presented the case to the District Attorney’s Office.

The pair’s first arraignment on the charges was Aug. 9, and it was then continued to Aug. 10 and then Aug. 20, Sept. 19 and Oct 24. There was another hearing in November and then Dec. 14, they pleaded not guilty.

A series of delays in the long-running case prompted the prosecutor to seek a grand jury indictment last week in an effort to speed up a pretrial hearing, said Jane Robison of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. oth pleaded not guilty.  

 Doherty is being held on $1.23 million bail. He is in custody at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

Vensko had his bail re-set at $1.2 million bail by the grand jury; however, on the previous charges the judge lowered his bail to $100,000, and Vensko posted that bail again May 16.

The case is being prosecuted by Ruby Arias-Giroux, deputy district attorney, is prosecuting the case.

The case will be heard by Judge David Gelfound on Tuesday in Department D at Los Angeles Superior Court in San Fernando.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

[node:title]

Article: [node:title]
Source: Santa Clarita News
Author: [node:author]