DUBLIN — A former Alameda County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison Tuesday for the execution-style killings of a Dublin couple, after they were gunned down in their home two years ago while their relatives looked on in horror.
Devin Williams received back-to-back sentences of 25 years to life in prison for the fatal shootings of Maria and Benison Tran, who were shot at near point-blank range after Williams snuck into their Dublin home and confronted them in a fit of jealous rage. The killings — carried out with Williams’ service pistol — capped a monthslong affair between Williams and Maria Tran that Alameda County Judge Jennifer Madden described as “volatile.”
Sobbing through nearly an hour of testimony, the couple’s relatives decried the deputy’s “heinous” actions and their lasting impacts. The couple’s 16-year-old son, identified in court Tuesday only as John Doe, said plainly that “I can’t forgive you for what you did to my parents.”
“You caused a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” said the son, in a letter read aloud by a prosecutor. “Do you ever think about what you’ve done, even once?”
“You destroyed my foundation,” the teenager added. “You have made sure I will walk this world alone.”
The families also lamented the collective damage that Williams, 26, caused to their trust in law enforcement. Several, including Maria Tran’s sister, Jennie Wong, spoke tearfully about how “we all must life with this agony, this crushing sorrow, for the rest of our lives.”
“A deputy is entrusted to protect the public,” said Maria Tran’s sister, Jennie Wong. “The betrayal of trust is staggering.”
Wearing a dark grey suit, Williams mostly sat silent and stared ahead as the Trans’ relatives spoke Tuesday. He broke that silence only to offer a brief apology, while stressing he’d never forgive himself for the killings.
“I wish this tragedy never happened,” Williams told the judge. “Just know I am truly sorry.”
Authorities framed the killings as work of a jealous and enraged lover who became obsessed with Maria Tran while the two had an affair in the months leading up to the shooting. Voluminous texts messages — often written in all capital letters — were presented at trial and in court documents, with Williams once telling Maria Tran in May 2022 that “you’re gonna make me do something stupid.” In another text, he once threatened to “break in,” promising to show up to her house “before” the cops got there if she called them, or demanding she “calm me down.”
On Sept. 6, 2022, Williams ended his shift at the Santa Rita Jail and made his way to the couple’s home on Colebrook Avenue, where he broke in while armed with his department-issued pistol.
In what a judge Tuesday called “the worst 911 call I’ve ever heard in a case,” the couple and their relatives could be heard wailing as Williams opened fire. One relative, Dalton Tran, recounted in searing testimony how it all unfolded before his eyes — Williams first …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
