Criminal proceedings were restored Aug. 26 for an Alpine man accused of killing his girlfriend after a judge found he was mentally competent to stand trial.
A preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 29 for Paul Alan Paraschak, 43, in the Feb. 23 death of Melanie Benitez, 27, who was found shot to death in an Alpine driveway.
A San Diego Superior Court judge read a psychological evaluation of Paraschak who was interviewed in jail.
A readiness conference for Paraschak was set for Sept. 11 in El Cajon Superior Court.
Benitez was found outside a white car that was parked in the driveway of a home in the 2800 block of Victoria Drive. A woman who lived there said she didn’t know the couple.
An El Cajon Superior Court judge suspended the proceedings in April—as required by law—after Paraschak’s attorney told him he doubted his client’s mental competency.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Paraschak as he was walking away from the scene and they found he was in possession of two firearms.
He remains in jail without bail and has pleaded not guilty.
