The case of the three suspects accused of forcing two
blindfolded and bound victims off a bridge at Sprig Lake will
continue to a Jan. 5 pretrial hearing.
The case of the three suspects accused of forcing two blindfolded and bound victims off a bridge at Sprig Lake will continue to a Jan. 5 pretrial hearing.
Gilroy residents Catrina Cameron, 22, Tamaya Duenas, 23, and Nathaniel Garcia, 22, face life sentences for two counts of kidnapping to commit robbery and two counts of premeditated attempted murder.
According to Steve Lowney, Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, the case was continued to pretrial without discussion.
“One defense counsel wasn’t ready to discuss the case, so there were no offers (for settlement). Nothing happened. It wasn’t heard,” Lowney said.
Garcia’s defense attorney waived his appearance in court.
The suspects pleaded not guilty Nov. 9 to 10 felony charges, four of which carry a life sentence.
Cameron and Duenas met Jose Hernandez while walking Oct. 23 on Monterey Street and attended a party at his home, according to a Gilroy Police Department report.
The GPD said Cameron then lured the victim and his friend, Fernando Aguilar, Oct. 25 into her apartment where Garcia, 22, and Duenas, 23, were waiting with a gun and knives.
The three suspects took the victims to ATM machines and forced them to make cash withdrawals, police said.
It is then police say the victims were then bound, blindfolded and pushed off the 15-foot bridge Sprig Lake off Hecker Pass Road in unincorporated Gilroy.
Duenas was the first to enter the courtroom at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill, and walked slowly to the back row. At times, she spun slightly on her chair, tightening her lips nervously.
Cameron entered soon after wearing a loose yellow shirt saddled by a lock and chain, and hid from the public behind her hair.
The remaining charges include two counts of robbery in an inhabited place, two counts of robbery in the second degree, one count of attempted robbery at or near an automated teller machine, one count of robbery at or near an automated teller machine and one count of carjacking.
Cameron presented a slightly different story in her statement to the GPD. In the police report, she said the night started with heavy drinking and ended with the two victims taped and blindfolded at Sprig Lake, where she said the victims fell off the bridge.
