There was supposed to be a pre-trial conference today in the case of Deandre Barnes, who allegedly struck and killed aspiring ballerina/Rock School student Polina Kadiyska in a brutal, early morning Broad Street hit-and-run on March 18.
However, the assistant district attorney assigned to the case was on vacation and the new defense attorney, William Christopher Montoya, had someone else standing in for him. Barnes was not there, either.
As such, the hearing was continued until Sept. 13. It’s my understanding that, up until that point, there will be talks about a possible deal which would see Barnes plead guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence in the homicide by vehicle case.
There’s already a potential civil suit lingering overhead involving South Philly bars which may have served the underage Barnes before he (allegedly) sped up Broad like it was I-95 and drove right into Polina, who was in a crosswalk near Ellsworth Street.
Montoya’s co-counsel told me after the hearing was rescheduled that there’s merit to the idea of a deal to spare both families the pain of a trial.
I’ll be over there on the 13th. (Here’s a link for previous coverage.)