Man accused of killing three gets prelim date
38-year-old suspected of causing crash while racing
It’s been almost three years since a crash in Commerce killed three people, including two Valencia residents — and the Whittier man accused of killing them has yet to have a preliminary hearing.
Dealio Lockhart, 38, appeared Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court to set a date for a preliminary hearing. He’s charged with murder in a crash that killed Brian Lewandowski, 18, and Michelle Littlefield, 19, both of the Santa Clarita Valley.
“We’re just trying to get closure,” Littlefield’s father, Willy, said Wednesday.
“It’s been almost three years to the date of the crash,” he said.
In fact, the latest scheduled date for Lockhart’s preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 25, two days before the three-year anniversary of the fatal traffic collision.
During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors will present evidence in the case, and the defense can respond; the judge can then decide if the case should go to trial.
Both Lewandowski and Littlefield had been enrolled as students at College of the Canyons.
Lockhart is suspected of racing his Dodge Challenger with another driver on Interstate 5 on Feb. 27, 2016, in Commerce, causing a chain-reaction collision that killed the two Valencia residents and Scott Treadway, 52, a UPS truck driver from Mira Loma.
Littlefield and Lewandowski were passengers in a Nissan with two other young people who were critically injured.
All four occupants of the Nissan were employees of Six Flags Magic Mountain returning from a trip to Disneyland.
If convicted, Lockhart faces up to life in state prison.