By NEAL PUTNAM
A Feb. 22, 2022 preliminary hearing has been set in the 2021 death of a promising young medical student who was the victim of a hit and run in La Mesa.
The driver of a white Ford F150 pickup truck struck Jok “Michael” Joseph Jok, 18, on Feb. 27, 2021, on Bancroft Drive just south of Golondrina Drive in La Mesa.
Jok was taken to a hospital around 9:10 p.m., but he died six days later on March 5 from head injuries. The driver fled the scene.
La Mesa Police alerted the public with photos of the vehicle from security cameras. They announced the arrest of Scott Douglas Satterfield, 61, of Spring Valley, on April 8.
Satterfield has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of hit and run in which someone died. No allegations of drunk or impaired driving were brought as he was not identified or arrested until five weeks after the incident.
Satterfield remains free on $25,000 bond.
Jok had begun an accelerated bachelor’s program at UC Riverside that would have led him to medical school, as he wanted to specialize in neuropharmacology, according to his obituary.
His parents came to the U.S. in 1998 as refugees from Sudan and his father became a case manager to help other refugees in San Diego. Jok was born in 2002.
“We struggle to imagine the world without Michael, and trust in God’s goodness for his wellbeing in the life beyond the one we know, which is unquestionably dimmer without him in it,” stated his online obituary.
He is survived by his parents, stepmother and siblings. He graduated from La Jolla Country Day School in 2020.
He was described as “quick witted and clever” and being “a truth-teller who cared deeply for his closest circle of friends,” according to a Facebook post in his honor.
Neal Putnam is a local court reporter.
