A May 26 preliminary hearing has been set for a man suspected of killing a woman and shooting her two co-workers at an Otay Mesa restaurant on Nov. 6, 2019.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Loeb said Monday the hearing for Albert Lee Blake, 49, will last between 1-2 days in Chula Vista Superior Court. The hearing was set before the courts closed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The courts are scheduled to re-open on May 1. Loeb said she was not sure if the hearing would be delayed again.
Maribel Merino Ibanez, 28, was shot first and killed at 5:30 p.m. at the Church’s Chicken restaurant at 3726 Del Sol Blvd Her two-workers, Humberto Cota and Mario Rojas, were wounded. Ibanez was a newlywed.
Blake reportedly became irate when he tried to use a $100 bill. Ibanez told him the restaurant did not accept $100 bills. He turned away and appeared angry, according to witnesses, and returned with a gun, allegedly shooting all three people.
Blake was arrested three weeks later on Nov. 22 in Memphis, Tennessee, by the U.S. Marshals Service. He was extradited to San Diego, and he has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
San Diego Police said in a press release that investigators had worked around the clock since the shooting to locate him. A warrant for his arrest was filed against him. Police have not said how he was located in Memphis.
Blake remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility on $5 million bail.
