Trial date still on hold for man charged with 2020 slaying in rural Vallejo

A 50-year-old Solano man accused of killing a woman in rural Vallejo in June 2020 faces a trial setting in the coming weeks after a series of delays in Solano County Superior Court.

Kenneth Travaille Hill, who appeared Nov. 8 for a trial readiness conference and a previously scheduled trial setting, heard Judge Daniel Healy instead order him to return to Department 2 at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 10 in the Justice Building in Vallejo. Court records did not indicate why the trial setting was paused.

Also, court records show that on Jan. 26, Hill’s defense attorney, Dionne E. Choyce of Fairfield, submitted a motion to dismiss one or more of the charges against his client, but it is unclear if Judge Robert Bowers, who was presiding over the case at the time, may have denied or accepted the motion.

Hill is alleged to have shot and killed Symphony Monk on June 20 in an unincorporated area of Vallejo and, at an Oct. 30 held-to-answer arraignment, he apparently entered a not-guilty plea.

Deputy District Attorney Melainee Collins leads the prosecution.

The Solano County District Attorney’s Office filed its criminal complaint against Hill on July 1, and, at the same time, obtained his record of arrests and prosecutions, or RAP sheet.

In a press release, District Attorney Krishna Abrams indicated that Hill is charged with firstdegree murder.

The prepared statement also noted that, on June 20, Solano County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence in the area outside of Vallejo city limits after receiving calls about a dead woman there.

Upon arrival, the deputies found Monk, who had suffered a gunshot wound to her head and died.

Sheriff’s detectives Charles Olmstead and Dylan Friend were able to compile data from license plate readers and cell phone providers, which led them to the identity of Monk’s alleged shooter. Afterward, Hill was arrested and charged with her murder. He remains in the Stanton Correctional Facility on $750,000 bail.

If found guilty at trial, Hill faces 25 years to life for the killing and likely more time for use of a firearm and any prior felony convictions.