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Suspects In Attempted Murder, Wrong-Way Driving Deaths Due Back In Court

Two cases with ties back to the Santa Clarita Valley were continued this week, one involves an attempted murder suspect and another involving a man accused of killing two people in a wrong-way crash.


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The case of Bradford Pate, a Burbank man accused of driving the wrong way in a Highway 14 crash that killed two people, is due be back in court Nov. 7.

“It’s coming back for a preliminary hearing setting,” said Deputy District Attorney Mykka Piantanida. “We’ve been through an extensive discovery process.”

At that date, both sides are planning to meet and discuss a hearing schedule for when evidence will be presented for a judge to decide if the charges merit a trial.

Ron Holt, 45, of Castaic, stands accused of attempted murder after he allegedly beat another man in the head with a miniature baseball bat.

Holt pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, and a judge next month will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to hold Holt over for trial.

Witnesses said Holt was refused service at The Sundown Bar at the 7800 block of Foothill Boulevard in Sunland, because he was drunk, according to Detective Anthony Stephenson of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Pate missed a pair of early  hearingsdue to injuries he sustained in the crash, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the county’s District Attorney’s Office.  

There was no medical reason cited for Pate’s most recent missed date, but he’s expected to be present for the November date because he is recovering from his injuries.

The Rev. Manard Giles, a 77-year-old Quartz Hill minister, who drove a 2006 Chrysler 300 died on scene at the June 22 crash.Mattie Lee Ferguson, a 60-year-old Lancaster woman who was a passenger in Giles’s car, succumbed to her injuries at Providence Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills.

Pate’s crash was the second alleged incident within about 10 days where a driver going the wrong way caused a crash.

Rick Allen Walker, 54, of Canyon Country, was hurt in a crash that left three with critical injuries.

Walker stands accused of wrong-way driving on the northbound Highway 14 during rush-hour traffic June 14, and charged with driving under the influence causing injury, said a spokeswoman at District Attorney’s Office.

He faces up to eight years in state prison, and is expected back in court Oct. 10.


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


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Suspects In Attempted Murder, Wrong-Way Driving Deaths Due Back In Court

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.