Teen couple accused in Clovis slaying of Caleb Quick texted about it after
The teen girl accused of acting as the getaway driver in the killing of Clovis teen Caleb Quick discussed the shooting in text messages with her boyfriend, the accused gunman, the day after the slaying, according to testimony Tuesday.
Cassandra Michael and Byron Rangel were both 16 when she drove him to the McDonald’s on Willow and Nees avenues in Clovis, where Rangel allegedly shot 18-year-old Quick in the head at close range, according to investigators.
“Idk how to feel,” Michael texted Rangel the day after the slaying, using the common text abbreviation for “I don’t know.”
“I’m just in shock honestly,” Michael wrote in another text.
On the first day of a transfer hearing Tuesday at Fresno County Superior Court, Senior District Attorney Kendall Reynolds and Clovis police painted Michael as a willing participant in the killing who should be tried as an adult. Michael’s defense attorneys, Jeff Hammerschmidt and Sally Vecchiarelli, depicted the teen as unaware of the violence that was to come the night of the slaying.
A transfer hearing is meant to determine if a juvenile accused of a serious crime should be tried as an adult or in the juvenile system. Michael faces a murder charge and an enhancement as a co-participant in a crime involving a gun.
The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office played surveillance video at the transfer hearing that showed, according to investigators, Rangel dressed in all black as he walked up behind Quick and shot him as he was leaving the McDonald’s with two friends. The video had no sound, but the muzzle flash was apparent before Quick fell to the ground.
The two friends appeared to not understand what was happening as they paused for a few moments before running toward Quick. The shooter sprinted away.
The shooter wore all black, including a black mask, and was captured on video watching Quick and others eating and hanging out in the restaurant before the alleged murder.
Clovis Det. Lovedeep Malhi said Rangel walked past Quick and his friends before he sat and watched them for about 10 minutes. Rangel walked around the restaurant some more before sitting in the same spot, moving only when craning his neck to see around a post that obstructed Quick, Malhi said.
Quick’s friends described him as “sketchy,” and noticed him behind them as they exited, Malhi said.
He said others at the restaurant told investigators that Michael had been talking to them earlier in the night about an alleged sexual assault. Before going to the eatery, she had asked around at a local church if Quick was going to be at McDonald’s later.
Hammerschmidt asked the detective about the potential motive, pointing to an alleged sexual assault by Quick.
The 18-year-old had given an inebriated teen girl a ride home from a party on April 13, 2025, a Sunday, Malhi said. The girl had no memory of a sexual encounter with Quick, who sent video of it to her the next morning, according to Clovis police.
“I don’t know how many he sent her, but they were extracted from his phone,” Malhi said.
Michael and Rangel had also discussed the alleged assault in text messages the day before the killing, according to text messages shared in the courtroom.
“It’s actually disgusting. I feel so bad for (her),” Michael texted Rangel, referring to the girl who was allegedly assaulted.
Clovis police found two revolvers at Rangel’s home after serving a search warrant, Malhi said. The silver one had residue on it as though it had been fired, he said. Police found a spent bullet casing in the teen’s closet.
Malhi said Clovis police never found the projectile piece of the bullet that struck Quick so they could not determine if it matched the casing.
Police did not find any text messages in which the teens discussed hurting Quick, Malhi said. Michael was not immediately cooperative with police when they arrived at her home to serve a search warrant, and police ultimately used a battering ram to get inside.
Malhi said they determined afterward that Michael was inside alone texting her mother, asking what she should do as police outside gave her commands to open the door. She turned over her phone and was cooperative after, he said.
Dustin Watkins, a forensics expert for the Clovis police, testified Rangel had searched on his phone for news about the shooting in the days after April 23. Rangel and Michael turned themselves in 16 days after the killing.
Clovis police arrive to chaotic scene
The first responder on the scene around 9 p.m. the night of the killing was officer Marcus Burks, who testified he arrived to a chaotic scene. He found Quick lying in a parking stall surrounded by two friends and an employee.
The McDonald’s and the surrounding shops were busy like they are often on a week night, Burks said. He attempted to aid Quick by applying gauze and pressure until an ambulance arrived, he said.
“He was breathing but not responsive,” Burks said. “Not a whole lot I could do (for a) gunshot to the head.”
Other teens on the scene were frantic and scared, and could not provide much detail on what they saw or heard, he said. They described what they believed to be a white male in all black with a silver revolver, he said. No altercation preceded the gunfire.
Surveillance video shown in court depicted a person dressed in all black running west along the sidewalk on the south side of Nees Avenue. The video collected from Wassabi on Fire’s camera also showed two white Teslas in the area shortly after the slaying.
One was driven by Michael, according to investigators. The other was a 911 caller who said he’d heard a single gunshot and followed the person dressed in black as they fled, according to Clovis Det. Nick Bell.
Another video from a home on Jordan Avenue, which is near Chestnut and Nees avenues, captured a person in black running along the residential street as a white Tesla rolled up behind them and honked before they got in.
The hearing could last five days. The second day of testimony is on Wednesday.
This story has been corrected to reflect the proper spelling for Clovis Det. Lovedeep Malhi.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 6:31 PM.
