Community Corner
Preliminary Hearing Today for Suspect in Taxi Driver Killing
The La Mesa man is charged with first-degree murder.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin in the El Cajon Superior Court today for a gang member accused of fatally shooting a taxi driver at the end of a cab ride in Lemon Grove.
Demetrius Sissac, 19, of La Mesa, is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 30 death of 39-year-old Jalaludin Hamrah, an immigrant from Afghanistan.
The defendant, who was on probation for auto theft at the time of the killing, is being held without bail.
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A judge will decide at the end of the preliminary hearing whether there's enough evidence to order Sissac to stand trial.
According to the prosecution, Hamrah gave a ride to Sissac in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, and at the end of the ride, Sissac shot Hamrah to death in cold blood.
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Hamrah was found dead in his cab, which crashed in the 3400 block of Main Street. Paramedics discovered a bullet wound in his upper body when they pulled him from the wreckage.
Sissac was arrested the night of Nov. 2.
The motive is unclear.
—City News Service.
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