2 FACE TRIAL IN CABBIE'S DEATH 56-YEAR-OLD SHOT DURING ATTEMPTED ROBBERY.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A 24-year-old reputed gang member and a 17-year-old suspected of being an accomplice have been ordered to stand trial on charges that they murdered a taxi driver during an attempted robbery.

Jamar Manard, 24, and Dukwan Adderley, 17, both of Lancaster, face trial in the slaying of 56-year-old Edward Sweatt of Palmdale, who was shot in the head April 15 while driving his cab along Fenhold Street in Lancaster.

``It was really sad. The courtroom was full of the (victim's) family,'' Deputy District Attorney Fred Mesropi said about the preliminary hearing Thursday.

A detective testified that the defendants called the cab company and were planning to commit a robbery.

Police said they demanded money from him after he picked them up. When he refused, one of the defendants shot him in the head, the detective testified. Manard and Adderley are pointing their fingers at each other, authorities say. The cab crashed into two parked cars, and two men were seen running away, officials said.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

``It's going to be a long and arduous process, but I'm confident in our case and confident in my client's innocence, and I believe trial will be the forum for proving this,'' said Corey Kagan, Adderley's attorney.

The defendants are charged with murder and attempted robbery. Prosecutors also say there was a special circumstance -- a murder occurred during an attempted robbery -- that makes Manard eligible for death or life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted. Adderley, who was 16 at the time, was charged as an adult but is too young to face execution.

Prosecutors have not made a decision whether to seek the death penalty against Manard.

Sweatt had been driving for Yellow Star Cab Co. of Palmdale for about six months.

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