Arraignment Is Delayed in Slaying of Fullerton Girl, 3

Arraignment was postponed Monday for a 21-year-old Fullerton man charged with the murder of a 3-year-old girl he was baby-sitting and with the attempted murder of the suspect’s mother and a man.

Michael Robert Pacewitz was ordered held without bail in Orange County Jail while awaiting a March 16 arraignment date. Deputy Public Defender Jim Appel said he asked for the postponement because he has received little information from police about the case.

Fullerton police said they arrested Pacewitz about 6 a.m. Saturday after he telephoned them and, according to officers, confessed to stabbing to death Marcelline Onick, the 3-year-old daughter of a fellow church member.

The child’s mother, Joanne Boydston, 25, reportedly had left her daughter and 9-month-old son with another friend Friday. Pacewitz later relieved the friend in baby-sitting duties, according to police.

Fullerton Police Sgt. Don Kimbro said Monday that the attempted-murder charges stem from an earlier incident Friday in which Pacewitz allegedly stabbed his mother and a man during a family argument in Anaheim. Kimbro referred questions of that investigation to Anaheim police detectives, who could not be reached for comment Monday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mel Jensen filed a criminal complaint against Pacewitz charging him with the murder of the girl and attempted murder of Elena George Fontaine and Juan Martinez Marin. Jensen would not answer questions about any of the charges or further identify the relationships between the alleged victims and Pacewitz.

Municipal Court Judge Linda Lancet Miller said she was holding Pacewitz without bail “based on the nature of the crime and the potential danger to the community.”