A young man charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his two passengers on Torrey Pines Road got a new trial date on Jan. 11 of June 6.

Christopher Ray Schmittel, now 21, waived his right to have a speedy trial when he appeared before San Diego Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which also include two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol and a tranquilizer in the deaths of Joshua Manzanares and Johnny Punzalan, both 19 and both from Lake Elsinore.

His attorney, Terry Allen, asked for a delay in the trial, which would have started later this month and prosecutor Hailey Williams was not opposed to a delay. The judge set a status date for April 15.

Schmittel was 19 years old when he was driving a Subaru WRX at a high rate of speed in the 13000 block of North Torrey Pines Road on April 25, 2022, when it crashed through a guardrail. The car went off a ledge and landed on Torrey Pines State Beach.

The two passengers who died were ejected. Schmittel was also ordered to stand trial for three counts of DUI causing injury to two other people in the car, including Aaron McCray, 18, who broke his femur, hip, and ankle.

McCray detailed his injuries when he testified in the preliminary hearing in April when a judge ordered Schmittel to stand trial on all charges. Allen had argued unsuccessfully the murder charges be dropped and that he only be held to answer for vehicular manslaughter charges.

Schmittel, from Moreno Valley, remains in the South Bay Detention Facility without bail.