Girl’s Slaying Followed Argument, Officials Say

The man who allegedly killed his 11-year-old niece this week in Laguna Niguel, stabbing her more than a dozen times in her bed, had argued with the sixth-grader’s mother hours earlier, prosecutors said Friday.

At a brief hearing in Santa Ana on Friday, William Orren Dawes, 26, was ordered held without bail, and his arraignment was set for Oct. 7.

“We think the community is better served by keeping Mr. Dawes in custody,” said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Gundy outside court. “The crime in this particular case is heinous.”

Dawes, who has a history of drug and assault convictions, had been released from jail two weeks before the slaying. If convicted of murdering Sonia Dawes, he could face 50 years to life in prison, Gundy said.

Friday’s arraignment was postponed so that an attorney from the Orange County public defender’s office could be appointed to represent him.

Prosecutors also released new details about the events leading up to Wednesday morning, when the girl’s grandmother found her in her bed about 12:40 a.m., unconscious and bleeding from the mouth.

Hours before, prosecutors allege, Sonia’s mother and Dawes argued over the phone. Lorraine Dawes “told the police the defendant became angry with her and she became afraid,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.

Irvine police arrested William Dawes about 3 a.m. Wednesday, nine miles from the family’s gated condominium complex. Police said Dawes was carrying a 12-inch knife -- the alleged murder weapon -- in his waistband.

His recent release from jail followed a 90-day sentence for violating his probation on earlier drug and assault convictions. In one of the cases, he pleaded guilty in 1999 to attacking a man with a hammer.