After years of delays, a Vallejo couple has finally been given a trial start date for a 2018 murder and robbery. Devonte Levan Hicks, 28, and Jessica Marie McCraven, 36, will stand trial on September 4, 2024. The two face serious charges, including first-degree murder, for the death of a man found unresponsive in a Vallejo hotel room more than six years ago, the SFist reported.
The drawn-out legal process has been plagued with rescheduling and interruptions, including an October 2023 trial date that was scrapped. The series of delays has been partly attributed to reduced court operations during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hicks and McCraven are represented by Fairfield criminal defense attorney Thomas Maas and attorney Terry Ray respectively, according to the East Bay Times.
Judge John B. Ellis of Solano County Superior Court also set some pretrial matters to occur in April and August of this year. If found guilty on the first-degree murder charge with the robbery enhancement, the defendants could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Both defendants have been held without bail since their arrest, with Hicks at the Stanton Correctional Facility and McCraven at the Claybank Detention Facility.
In a strange aspect of the case, the victim's identity has reportedly been "protected" and has not been disclosed to the public. "The Solano County Coroner has reported the victim’s identity was ‘protected’ and could not be released," the SFist reports detailed.
