The Gilroy man accused of killing a man near Palo Alto City Hall
in July 2008 is scheduled for preliminary hearing later this month
after months of delays.
The Gilroy man accused of killing a man near Palo Alto City Hall in July 2008 is scheduled for preliminary hearing later this month after months of delays.
Otto Emil Koloto, 23, faces a murder charge, with a special allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm in the commission of the crime, according to court documents. His co-defendant, Donald Robert Lee, 22, who is not from Gilroy, also faces a murder charge and was at the crime and was an accomplice of Koloto, police said.
The duo’s plea hearing has been continued multiple times, which is not unusual in a case like his, said Amy Cornell, public information officer for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Koloto was arrested Oct. 2 – months after police believe he shot and killed 27-year-old Philip Lacy, a South San Francisco resident, in a street robbery that spiraled out of control – when police found him after months of searching. Koloto was hiding out in a South San Jose condominium owned “by a friend of a friend,” Palo Alto Police Agent Dan Ryan said. Koloto was arrested without incident and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail where he remains in custody without bail.
At 2 a.m. July 13, Lacy was waiting for friends near the Palo Alto City Hall parking garage after a night of bar hopping when he was robbed and shot once in the head, police said. He died several days later at Stanford Hospital.
The defendants are scheduled to enter pleas 10 a.m. Wednesday in Department 88 of the Palo Alto Courthouse. Their preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. May 27 in the same courtroom. Koloto is represented by the Public Defender’s Office and Lee is represented by the Alternate Defender’s Office, according to Cornell.
