OAKLAND — A metropolis resident has been sentenced to 9 years in state jail in reference to a 2020 highway rage capturing that paralyzed a UC Berkeley pupil who would die from his accidents months later, court docket data present.
Jamon Hill, 27, pleaded no contest to a cost of capturing an inhabited automobile. In alternate, prosecutors dropped homicide expenses associated to the killing of 32-year-old Quoc Tran, a UC Berkeley staffer who used his cellphone to {photograph} Hill’s automobile moments earlier than he was shot.
The proof linking Hill to Tran’s capturing had largely to do with a gold Lexus ES 350 that was seen on each surveillance video and within the picture taken by Tran. The surveillance video confirmed Tran making an attempt to get away from the automobile because it chased him.
Hill was recognized because the proprietor of the Lexus; when police tried to drag him over the day after Tran was shot, he sped away, then stopped, obtained out of the automobile, ran away, and was subsequently arrested by an Oakland officer. In a subsequent interview he admitted the automobile was his however claimed he’d lent it to a good friend the day earlier, although he declined to call the individual, in response to court docket data.
The gun discovered within the automobile was in comparison with bullet fragments positioned after Tran’s capturing, however whereas it was discovered to be tied to a previous nonfatal capturing, it couldn’t be linked or eradicated because the weapon within the Tran capturing.
Police then confirmed Tran a photograph lineup that included Hill. However Tran — who might solely talk utilizing an alphabet chart as a consequence of his in depth accidents — didn’t pick anybody from the lineup as the one that shot him, in response to court docket data.
Hill was formally sentenced at a Could 26 court docket listening to, a month after pleading no contest.
Tran, who was identified to his household as “Koko,” was described in on-line postings by household and pals as “a warrior” who “fought laborious to the very finish.” In a press release, Felix Deleon, director of campus operations at UC Berkeley, stated Tran was “instrumental in creating a few of our processes,” together with a COVID provide retailer that’s used throughout campus.
“Within the final yr because the incident we witnessed his energy, dedication, and braveness,” Deleon stated. “He was a helpful member of our crew and will likely be enormously missed.”
