Alleged getaway driver in Caleb Quick killing charged too severely, attorney says
The 16-year-old accused of driving the getaway car the night Caleb Quick was killed in Clovis appeared in court Wednesday and will soon face the juvenile equivalent of a preliminary hearing.
Cassandra Michael faces a murder charge and an enhancement as a co-participant in a crime involving a gun.
Her attorney, Jeff Hammerschmidt, said Wednesday his client didn’t deserve to be charged with such serious crimes because investigators did not show proof she was aware the other teen charged in the crime had a gun.
He said prosecutors could have charged her with being an accessory after the fact, which is a felony but a less serious charge.
“I don’t think she should be charged with a murder and possession of a firearm,” Hammerschmidt said outside the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Campus court. “There’s absolutely nothing referencing our client knowing anything about a firearm at all, much less that it was going to be used.”
Being tried separately is Byron Rangel, the 16-year-old boyfriend of Michael who also faces a murder charge and enhancement for allegedly lying in wait before shooting the 18-year-old Quick in the head outside of a McDonald’s on April 23.
Hammerschmidt said he has subpoenaed a couple of Clovis police officers to question them at the next hearing about his client and the gun. He said Michael seemed surprised to know that a shooting had happened after she picked up Rangel and arrived back to a home where Rangel’s brother was present.
“Her boyfriend’s brother described her in a way that she was absolutely shocked that a shooting occurred,” he said. “She was reacting as if something new happened that was extremely violent and completely shocking. She wasn’t reacting like a person who knew that there was going to be somebody killed.”
The case has become more complicated after an attorney for Rangel said in open court Clovis police believed the motive in the shooting to be traced back to a video that Quick took of himself sexually assaulting a teen girl who was too intoxicated to consent.
Rangel’s attorney, Mark Coleman, said Quick and the girl were at a party before he offered to drive her home. According to Coleman, police allege the girl had no memory of what happened that night, and only became aware of the assault after Quick shared the video with her and others.
Asked about the video, Hammerschmidt said he had nothing to add.
The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has requested the court allow both 16-year-olds to be tried as adults. A judge has not made the determination on that request, which could take months to resolve.
Michael is due back in court on Monday, when her attorney is likely to enter a plea. Also scheduled Monday is a “prima facie” hearing, which is a juvenile court hearing similar to a preliminary hearing in an adult case in which some evidence would be heard.
The killing of Caleb Quick and the arrest
Police have said Quick was at a McDonald’s near Willow and Nees avenues before 9 p.m. April 23 and was shot in the head in the parking lot by someone who followed him outside. The 18-year-old died at a hospital.
The fast food location was known to be a hangout for teenagers, police said.
Quick was attending Clovis Online School, but had previously gone to Buchanan High. The two 16-year-olds attended Clovis North, and investigators have said all three teens were familiar with each other.
Rangel and Michael turned themselves into Clovis police on May 10, more than two weeks after Quick was killed and police started a manhunt. They’ve been in custody since.
Rangel’s next hearing is July 8.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM.
