El Cajon

Two men accused in the slaying of an El Cajon liquor store owner were ordered to stand trial Tuesday after a two-day preliminary hearing.

Hai Van Nguyen and Tin Trung Ngo, both 19, are charged with the murder of Thamir (Tom) Mikhael and the attempted murder of his nephew, David Warten.

The two Los Angeles-area men also are charged with robbing the Deliquery Market at 701 Broadway on Aug. 18.

Prosecutors filed a special circumstance allegation against Nguyen on Monday, saying that he fatally shot Mikhael during the course of a robbery. If convicted, Nguyen could be sentenced to die in the gas chamber.

Municipal Judge John M. Thompson ordered the pair to stand trial in Superior Court. He scheduled an arraignment for Dec. 12.

Warten testified at the hearing that Nguyen was the man who fired the shots during the mid-day robbery.

After Nguyen fired one shot from a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol at Mikhael, he turned and shot Warten, the nephew testified. Following this, Warten said he saw Nguyen shoot Mikhael again, and then he heard another blast as he passed out.

A third man, Dung Hung Ly, is suspected of being the getaway driver. He was apprehended by an immigration inspector as he attempted to enter the United States at the San Ysidro border crossing. Ly is being held on a parole violation and has not yet been charged in the case.