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The teen accused of fatally stabbing a homeless Roseville woman faced a judge and the woman’s family Tuesday during his first court appearance in the slaying.
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Cherie Dodge was 57 when she was killed while sleeping last Wednesday on a park bench in downtown Roseville. The 15-year-old suspect appeared in Placer County Juvenile Court in Roseville on a charge of first-degree murder. His name has not been released because of his age.
“I think that it was very hard for us to be in the same room, and just be in the presence of this young boy, very hard,” Cassandra Flor, Cherie Dodge’s daughter, told ABC10, following the hearing in Placer Juvenile Court in Roseville.
Placer County District Attorney’s Office confirmed in a statement that the murder case was within its jurisdiction, citing the “severity of this crime and the overwhelming public safety interest.” The office cited California law limiting what information it could disclose about the case and declined to release further details. The teen will be prosecuted as a juvenile under state law.
California law prevents any minor younger than 16 at the time of an offense from being prosecuted as an adult for any crime, including murder, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Roseville police found Dodge’s body near Atlantic and South Grant streets about 1 a.m. Oct. 14, after responding to a report of a possible stabbing, said Lt. Nick Gaines, a Roseville Police Department spokesperson.
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The teen was taken into custody two days later, Oct. 16, after a regional SWAT team served a search warrant at a home in the 100 block of Buckley Court in Roseville. The 15-year-old was booked into Placer County juvenile custody on a murder charge. Police said the teen did not know Dodge and have not disclosed a possible motive.
Dodge was “homeless by choice,” said family members, who have appealed to the community and Roseville leaders for more resources to address mental health and homelessness; and have said the grandmother and mother of five adult children was more than her life and tragic end on the streets.
“Everybody has a story,” son Carlos Brandt told KCRA-TV, at a vigil Saturday following his mother’s death. “Everybody needs to be validated.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 10:09 AM with the headline “Teen accused of killing homeless Roseville woman faces victim’s family in court.”
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