Man indicted in Jan. 1 slaying

COSTA MESA — A south Orange County man was indicted Thursday on charges of fatally stabbing one man and injuring another with a knife outside a Costa Mesa hotel early on New Year’s Day in the city’s first homicide of 2011.

A grand jury indicted Adam Randy Baker, 23, of Dana Point on one felony count of murder in the slaying of 27-year-old Robert Sickles, of Mission Viejo, and one felony count of attempted murder, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a news release.

Baker also faces a sentencing enhancement for use of a deadly weapon, according to the release.

Baker allegedly stabbed Sickles in the chest and allegedly injured a friend of Sickles, Brian McTeigue, 26, during an altercation outside the Orange County/Costa Mesa Hilton at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, the release said.

Baker was accused of starting a fight with a group that included Sickles and McTeigue as they were exiting the Hilton after leaving a heavily-attended New Year’s Eve party there.

“In this particular case, given all the circumstances, we decided that the Grand Jury was the appropriate vehicle to carry the case forward,” Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy told the Daily Pilot Thursday.

On Jan. 12, Baker was released after posting $1-million bail, according to a Pilot report.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Feb 28, in Department C-5 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. If convicted, Baker could face up to 23 years to life in state prison, according to the news release.