A slew of young people from Clovis testified in the juvenile murder case against Cassie Michael, including one who described himself Tuesday as a close friend of the teen accused of killing Caleb Quick.
The second day of witness questioning in the murder trial heard young people, including at least one minor, who attended Clovis Hills Church youth group with both Quick and Michael, and they all said they believed the two were friends.
Michael faces a murder charge plus an enhancement as a co-conspirator in a crime involving a gun for allegedly being the driver for her boyfriend, Byron Rangel, on April 23, 2025, before and after he allegedly shot Quick in the back of the head outside a McDonald’s near Willow and Nees avenues. Both Michael and Rangel were 16 on the night the 18-year-old Quick was killed.
Michael Dexter said he had been friends with Michael since the second grade and would hang out with her on a weekly basis. He said he knew Rangel from high school but almost never associated with him outside of school.
Dexter was at the church youth group the hours before Quick was killed and was with Quick, Rangel, Michael and another friend at McDonald’s later that night for what the teens called “Fry Night,” a weekly social hour at the eatery that followed the church events.
Police allege Michael left McDonald’s that night with Rangel in order to develop an alibi for the violence later in the night.
“She returned not long after she had taken Byron home,” Dexter said. “She had said that she’d taken him home, and we just didn’t really think anything of it.”
He said her round trip seemed short for the 10- to 15-minute drive from the McDonald’s to Rangel’s home near Clovis and Shepherd avenues, but it wasn’t cause for concern. While the two were gone, Quick arrived with his friends to the eatery.
Shortly after Michael returned alone, she brought up rumors about a sexual assault by Quick, according to Dexter. He said it wasn’t the first time he’d heard the rumor, and was previously told over the phone by Rangel.
“She did say something regarding one of her friends and Caleb, and what Caleb did to said girl,” he said. “Caleb had allegedly taken advantage of this girl. I could tell she (Michael) was very unhappy about it.”
Clovis police have said the teen couple’s belief in the rape allegation served as their motive for killing Quick.
Under questioning from the defense attorneys, Dexter said his once “energetic, easy to talk to” friend, Michael, had become quicker to anger in the time she had been dating Rangel.
“They had had lots of issues,” Dexter said. “Their relationship was not healthy.”
Rangel was jealous of any male friends Michael had, he said, and had been verbally abusive. Rangel had also tried to find out where Quick lived, he said.
More than one person at church on the night of the killing said Michael asked them if Quick would be attending. The prosecution’s questioning hinting that Michael was involved in the plan to kill Quick.
Her defense attorneys have said the girl showed no malice to Quick, and only ever showed grief for the alleged victim of sexual assault. One witness, Carlos Navarro, told police Michael reacted to seeing a video of Quick that made the rounds online after he had been shot.
“This world is so messed up. How could someone do this? How can someone take a video and post it?” Navarro told police, repeating what he’d heard Michael say.
Police allege Michael dropped Rangel off in a nearby neighborhood, where he changed his clothes into the all black that the shooter of Quick was later seen wearing. He also shared his location on his phone with his girlfriend before she left, police allege.
Prosecutors have said she also acted as the driver after the shooting, and surveillance video showed the teen girl driving down Nees Avenue to a nearby neighborhood to pick up the fleeing Rangel.
The trial continues Wednesday.
Cassie Michael, center, sits between her attorneys Jeff Hammerschmidt and Sally Vecchiarelli on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, on the first day of trial for the alleged murder of Caleb Quick, a teen killed in Clovis over an alleged sexual assault. THADDEUS MILLER tmiller@fresnobee.com 
Stephen Quick, left, and son Caleb in an undated photo in Yosemite National Park. Quick was killed April 23, 2025, in a parking lot near Herndon and Willow avenues in Clovis. Opening statements and witness questioning in the trial for one of the two teens accused of murder is set to begin Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. 
Clovis police seized this Tesla shown on surveillance video at the McDonald’s. CLOVIS POLICE DEPARTMENT
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Reporter Thaddeus Miller has covered cities in the central San Joaquin Valley since 2010, writing about everything from breaking news to government and police accountability. A native of Fresno, he joined The Fresno Bee in 2019 after time in Merced and Los Banos.