Caleb Quick murder defendant won’t be transferred to adult court, Fresno judge says
The girl accused of being the getaway driver in the execution-style killing of 18-year-old Caleb Quick last year will remain in the juvenile justice system after a judge on Friday denied the transfer request of the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
Cassie Michael was 16 when she drove her 16-year-old boyfriend, Byron Rangel, to a McDonald’s in Clovis, where police say the boy walked up to Quick and shot the 18-year-old in the back of the head.
Fresno Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Gaab said the DA’s office did not clear the high bar of proving the teen girl was not able to benefit and mature within the justice system before she turns 25.
“All of the evidence presented, including by the peoples’ expert, has been to the contrary,” she said.
Gaab said the level of sophistication in the slaying and its planning on top of the gravity of a killing after lying in wait were key arguments leaning toward why Michael should face a jury in an adult case. But, she said, state law required the prosecution to show clear evidence that the minor was beyond rehabilitation.
Multiple witnesses testified Michael has shown an effort to better herself inside the juvenile center, graduating from high school early and becoming a tutor to others, among other endeavors.
Quick’s father, Stephen Quick, said outside the courthouse he was trying not to let himself get high hopes about the transfer hearing, noting the high legal bar prosecutors would have to clear to get Michael transferred to an adult criminal court. He said he felt “defeated” after the ruling.
“Defeated, for sure,” he said while wearing his son’s picture on a T-shirt and button. “I was being realistic through all this whole process, studying the law, trying to understand the law, going to other families throughout the Valley (who are) going through similar situations, having the same outcomes.”
Quick has become part of a network of family members of victims of violence pushing Prop. 57 reform, saying the law is too lenient on youthful offenders.
Attorneys for Michael said the decision on Friday was a win.
“This was the biggest hearing in the case, and really the most important decision in the case,” attorney Jeff Hammerschmidt said. “I think it was pretty clear when you have both the defense expert testimony that the minor’s amenable to rehabilitation and the prosecution’s expert saying the exact same thing, that there’s — as the court said — there’s no evidence presented that she’s not amenable to rehabilitation, and that is the standard under the law in California.”
Another attorney for Michael, Sally Vecchiarelli, said she has compassion for the families of victims, but said the public should not worry that young people who commit crimes are hardened criminals.
“The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that their brains are different, so to have fear that a young child is going to grow up and do something horrible again, it’s not supported by the research, the data (or) the science,” she said. “That all shows that rehabilitation is very highly likely when you’re dealing with a youth offender.”
Michael is due back in juvenile court on June 5, when the process begins for a trial there.
Byron Rangel case coming soon
The other teen accused of the lie-in-wait killing, Rangel, is due back in juvenile court in June. Similarly, 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.
The elder Quick said he’s worried about the outcome of that case in the wake of Friday’s decision.
“The criteria that the law says the judge must follow is: he’s 16, even if he did all these crimes, it’s if he can be rehabilitated,” he said.
The killing of Caleb Quick
Both Michael and Rangel have been charged with murder. Michael also faces an enhancement as a co-participant in a crime involving a gun. Rangel’s enhancements include intentional discharge of a firearm and lying in wait.
Clovis police and prosecutors have said Michael drove Rangel to the McDonald’s near Herndon and Willow avenues to meet with others on April 23, 2025, on the night of the fatal shooting. They also allege she drove him away and returned without him to provide an alibi for the shooting they planned. She then picked him up after he fled.
Police said the teen 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. The teen victim was a friend of Michael, police testified.
They turned themselves in 16 days after the killing, and made attempts to conceal the crime, according to prosecutors.
Surveillance video form the eatery and a gas station in the same parking lot caught the slaying, as well as the comings and goings of the teen couple.
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Caleb Quick murder defendant won’t be transferred to adult court, Fresno judge says."
