Brandi Morales-Rael, 34, pictured with one of her six children
MORENO VALLEY: Hearing reset for man charged with killing
A preliminary hearing has been rescheduled in the death-penalty case of a man accused of shooting and then setting fire to his ex-girlfriend in front of her six children.
The woman, 34-year-old Brandi Morales-Rael, was killed in the attack.
The hearing, set for today, was moved to April 12 to give defense attorneys for Tyrone Harts, 39, of Riverside, more time to review newly disclosed material, counsel told Riverside County Superior Court Judge Christian Thierbach, who set the new date.
Prosecutors also filed an amended complaint against Harts during a brief hearing, changing an assault charge to attempted murder.
Prosecutors said Harts returned to the Moreno Valley home of Morales-Rael, his former girlfriend of three years, one night in February 2010. The couple had recently separated.
Investigators said he shot her once in the back, then set her on fire. Four of the children, ages 6-11, put out the fire.
During the assault, sheriff’s investigators said, Harts allegedly fired one shot from a handgun at Morales-Rael’s eldest son when he tried to intervene. That was the charge revised Tuesday from assault to attempted murder.
If convicted of the murder charge, which includes special allegations of torture and murder during the commission of a burglary, Harts faces the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and the special circumstances.
http://www.pe.com/local-news/breakin...th-killing.ece
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