On Monday, a grieving family faced the man accused of killing their loved one. In a Long Beach courtroom, three dozen friends and relatives filled the audience for a view of the defendant charged with murdering 17-year-old Briana Soto.
Soto, a cheerful and upbeat Poly High School student, was headed home from her job at McDonald’s on March 26 when — just a few steps from home — a man she didn’t know shot her to death “for no reason,” according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
Police said Soto’s mother, Ana Morales, was close enough that she heard the gunfire.
In court Monday, Morales said in Spanish that she’s only hoping for one thing: “That justice be done for her, that is what I ask.”
For the last six months, Morales and the rest of Soto’s family have been left searching for answers and questioning why this was allowed to happen, given Fox’s lengthy criminal history. Soon though, the accused killer would be the one claiming he’d been denied justice.
Police say Troy Lamar Fox repeatedly broke the law before and after he allegedly killed Soto on the evening of March 26.
At the time of both shootings, Fox had a warrant out for his arrest dating back to November 2023, when he violated the terms of his conditional release related to a conviction of illegal weapons possession, police said.
His history of convictions dates back to 2013 when he accepted a plea deal on one felony count of making criminal threats in Antelope Valley.
Since then, Fox has also served time for grand theft in 2015 and 2017, felony burglary and grand theft in 2018, commercial burglary in 2019 and illegal possession of a firearm in 2023.
Two weeks after Soto’s death, police allege Fox shot at a vehicle containing four minors in Long Beach. He was arrested on suspicion of murdering Soto in September.
Fox is “an incredibly dangerous person,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Robert Song said at Monday’s hearing.
He now faces life in prison if he’s convicted of murder and the four attempted murder counts he’s facing. He’s pleaded not guilty.
A Preliminary hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Fox for a full trial was scheduled to take place Monday, but defense attorney Charles Frisco sought to delay it. He needed the time to study the evidence prosecutors plan to present so he could be prepared to cross-examine witnesses.
Frisco said the evidence he has reviewed “has factual issues” and is “circumstantial.”
But in an unusual move, Fox himself objected to his lawyer’s request. He wanted the preliminary hearing to proceed right away.
He insisted he would be denied his right to a speedy trial if the judge didn’t move the case along.
Judge Richard M. Goul was unswayed, saying it would be incredibly unusual to have a case of this magnitude move along so swiftly.
He delayed the hearing until Oct. 30 and ordered Fox held on $6 million bail.