Trial set for Clovis girl accused of murdering Caleb Quick. Will she testify?
The teen girl whose transfer to adult court was denied by a Fresno County judge will go to trial in July for her alleged part in the killing of Caleb Quick after a judge on Friday set the trial date.
Cassie Michael’s trial was scheduled for July 28 by Judge Pahoua C. Lor, and attorneys have estimated it may last 10 days in a Fresno County Superior Court courtroom downtown.
Michael has been charged with murder, including an enhancement as a co-participant in a crime involving a gun. Clovis police alleged Michael, who was 16 at the time, acted as the getaway driver in the April 23, 2025, execution-style killing of Quick, who was 18 when he was shot in the head.
Prosecutors argued in court Michael was involved in the planning to kill Quick with her 16-year-old boyfriend, Byron Rangel. A judge in May denied the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office’s request to transfer Michael to adult court.
The juvenile trial in July will look much like any criminal trial at the courthouse, but there will be no jury, according to Sally Vecchiarelli, one of Michael’s attorneys. A judge will determine beyond a reasonable if the facts presented in the courtroom prove the teen was guilty.
“This is a factual issue: Whether or not it’s true that she was an aider and abettor,” Vecchiarelli said.
The judge could also decide to find the teen girl guilty of a lesser crime, like felony or misdemeanor assault or aiding the shooter after the fact, according to Jeff Hammerschmidt, another attorney for Michael.
He said trials are difficult to predict, noting the hearing will see witnesses that so far did not take the stand. The transfer hearing included only police and other officials, but none of the teens who were at the scene of the killing or interacted with the 16-year-olds afterward.
Hammerschmidt said he believed the evidence showed Michael was not aware that Rangel planned on kill Quick.
“There’s nothing in there to show she knew what would happen,” he said. “It just wasn’t there.”
Hammerschmidt said Michael could choose to take the stand even if he recommends she does not. They won’t make the decision until after seeing all the other testimony in court, he said. Michael is 17 but will be 18 by the July court date.
“The decision on whether to testify is solely the client’s,” he said. “You can imagine for an 18-year-old, it’s intimidating to take the stand.”
The judge also ordered Juvenile Justice Center staffers to bring Michael to a physician within three business days. The teen complained through her attorneys that staff continued to not account for a food allergy she has when providing her with meals.
Caleb Quick’s father
Stephen Quick, the father of Caleb, said he was not sure what to expect in the looming trial, adding it’s been difficult on his family and loved ones. He was frustrated by the juvenile system.
“There’s always hope, but it’s tilted so much in their favor,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what these kids did.”
Clovis police and prosecutors have said Michael drove Rangel to a McDonald’s near Herndon and Willow avenues to meet with other teenagers on April 23, 2025. Police said Rangel committed the lie-in-wait killing, which was caught on camera.
Prosecutors allege Michael drove Rangel away from McDonald’s and returned without him to provide an alibi for the shooting they planned later in the night. She then picked him up after he fled on foot, which was caught on video outside a nearby home.
Police said the couple planned the killing as revenge for an alleged sexual assault by the younger Quick on a teen girl after she drank at a party. They allege text messages hinted at such a plan, and the teen victim of the assault was a friend of Michael, police testified.
Michael and Rangel turned themselves in 16 days after the killing, and allegedly made attempts to conceal the crime, according to prosecutors. That included an attempt to give away the car used in the getaway, according to police.
Rangel is due back in juvenile court June 9. Similar to the May hearing for Michael, his transfer hearing is expected to begin soon after. The teen will go through the same process before a judge determines whether he’ll face an adult criminal trial.
