MODESTO -- A Merced man who, two years after the incident, confessed to fatally shooting a Modesto store clerk is being held to answer on charges of murder and attempted robbery.
A preliminary hearing in Stanislaus Superior Court was held Friday morning for Mark Burgess, 25, of Merced.
Burgess called 911 last year and told a dispatcher he wanted to confess to a murder. About a week later, co-defendant Ernesto Morales Jr., 23, of Merced was arrested as his accomplice.
Both are charged with murder in the commission of a robbery and attempted murder in connection with the 2009 death of Harinder Sanghera.
Five officers went to arrest Burgess at his Merced apartment complex after his 911 call Oct. 29, Mer- ced police officer Gerald Bohanan testified.
From the back of Bohanan's patrol car, Burgess confessed to shooting a store clerk twice on South Ninth Street in Modesto on Dec. 4, 2009.
"He had a run-in with God and wanted to get this off his chest," Bohanan testified. "He said he didn't want anyone else to go down for what he did."
Sanghera, 25, was shot twice from behind at the Gas N Shop Market on South Ninth Street.
Judge Dawna Reeves ruled that the charges against Mark Burgess and Morales will stand.
They are set to return to court Tuesday for an arraignment.
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