Suspects' murder charges reduced to manslaughter because of Antioch police racism, brutality scandal
Racism and police brutality came back to haunt Antioch police on Monday, as four murder suspects struck a plea deal eliminating possible murder convictions and knocking their charges down to manslaughter and other lesser charges.
Superior Court Judge David Goldstein accepted the plea deal Monday in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez, after all four men changed their previous pleas from not guilty pleas to no contest.
Terryonn Pugh, 23, Eric Windom, 23, Keyshawn McGee, 25, and Trent Allen, 23, were all charged in the killing of Arnold Hawkins and the attempted killing of Aaron Patterson, both of Antioch, on March 9, 2021. All four faced 25 years to life in prison, if convicted.
Then came the Antioch police scandal, in which federal and local investigators uncovered widespread acts of racism and brutality in the Antioch Police Department -- including during the arrests of the four Black men involved in the plea deal.
Their attorneys challenged the charges based on the relatively new California Racial Justice Act, which allows suspects recourse if their arrest was based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.
Under an agreement struck between the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office and defense attorneys, Pugh will receive 20 years in state prison, after pleading no contest to manslaughter and attempted murder.
Windom will receive 19 years on similar charges. McGee will receive 13 years and eight months, and Allen will receive 19 years.
Pugh and Windom will be officially sentenced Wednesday morning. Allen and McGee will be sentenced Friday morning. Both hearings are at 10:30 a.m.
Murder trials were slated for Monday, but Goldstein told the court a plea deal was struck last week.
Prosecutor Jordan Sanders said Monday he spoke with the victim's families, who "voiced their displeasure" but said "they too are frustrated with the Antioch police officers' conduct."
At least 10 Antioch and Pittsburg police officers were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on charges including improper use of weapons and a police dog on suspects, civil rights violations, falsifying records, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, turning off body cameras, selling steroids, and paying individuals to take college classes for officers.
All 12 Antioch officers involved either in the arrests or the investigations of Pugh, Windom, McGee, and Allen were part of racist, homophobic and threatening text messages chains, some of which referred to Black suspects as the N-word, described violence against suspects, threatened Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe, who is Black, and referred to then-Police Chief Steven Ford -- who is also Black -- as a gorilla.
Seven of the 12 officers involved in the murder investigation sent messages and five others received them without reporting them. Some of those officers were also indicted.
An expert witness for the defense testified in September about seeing four reports detailing the indictments and text messages, which included photos of Pugh's injured and naked buttocks, with the description "I shot him in the ass" with a 40mm non-lethal projectile.
She also referred to texts during which indicted officer Eric Rombough admitted shooting one of the suspects "LOL - I 40'd him right next to his throat" and admitted to kicking Allen in the head. She said Rombough sent officers -- including detectives and supervisors -- a photo of Allen shirtless in the hospital. He texted "I was trying to kick his head over the fence."
Officers also shared a photoshopped photo of George Floyd -- the man killed by Minneapolis police in 2020, causing civil unrest nationwide -- with a now-dead naked adult actor on top of him while he was being choked to death.
The text messages involving as many as 45 Antioch police officers were made public by investigators last year. Nearly half of Antioch's then-99 officers were put on leave.
The DA's office conceded last summer racial bias was involved in the arrests of the four men, which Goldstein ruled eliminated the need for any of the officers to testify.