Hearing delayed in Ceres toddler drowning case

A judge on Tuesday postponed next week's preliminary hearing for a Ceres mother accused of murder in the drowning of her 2-year-old son.

Florcita Valdez's son, Aureliano Joel Valdez, was found dead in the family's pool on Larson Lane in Ceres minutes after his mother reported the boy missing on July 18, 2010.

Valdez's preliminary hearing was scheduled Monday, but the attorneys asked Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Linda McFadden to reschedule.

Stephen Foley, Valdez's defense attorney, and Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira are both in the middle of an unrelated four-defendant murder trial that is not expected to end by next week.

McFadden set June 19 to reschedule a date for the preliminary hearing.

The defendant remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.