El Cajon

An El Cajon man was ordered Friday to stand trial for the attempted murder of a prostitute.

James Morris Jackson, 23, was also charged with assaulting the woman, holding her against her will, robbery and forcible oral copulation.

Jackson was arrested March 1 by the Metropolitan Homicide Task Force, which is investigating 42 unsolved killings of women--mostly prostitutes--whose bodies have been found in East and North county since 1985.

Jackson is charged with crimes involving only the Feb. 26 incident with the prostitute.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis said she cannot comment on whether Jackson is a suspect in other cases.

The prostitute, 30, identified Jackson in San Diego Municipal Court as the man who picked her up near 21st and Market streets downtown.

She said he drove to an isolated area and asked her to get into the camper shell of his truck.

“I told him I had to get paid first,” the woman said.

She said Jackson gave her $4, and she told him it wasn’t enough.

She said her assailant suddenly tried to choke her with both hands.

After the attack, she said, Jackson apologized and told her he needed to see a doctor because he didn’t know why he “treated girls this way.”

The woman said the man then dropped her off on 25th Street in San Diego, where she flagged down a car for help and wrote down the assailant’s license number as he drove away.

Following her testimony as the sole witness in the preliminary hearing, Judge Rafael Arreola bound Jackson over to Superior Court for trial.

He ordered Jackson to appear March 30 for arraignment. Bail of $55,000 was not changed, and Jackson remains in County Jail.