DA secures conviction in 2021 murder case at the center of Racial Justice Act Violations
Martinez, CONCORD, CA (May 8, 2024) — On May 6, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office reached a resolution in the 2021 murder of Arnold Marcel Hawkins and the attempted murder of Aaron Patterson. This murder was a seminal case in Contra Costa County regarding the California Racial Justice Act.
The defendants, 23-year-old Terryonn Deshawn Pugh, 25-year-old Eric James Windom, 25-year-old Keyshawn Malik McGee, and 23-year-old Trent Allen, were charged by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office on a six-count felony complaint with enhancements in November 2021 (People v. Pugh, Windom, McGee, and Allen). On March 9th, 2021, the four defendants engaged in a shooting in the City of Antioch wherein they discharged firearms at a vehicle in a residential neighborhood. The barrage of bullets killed Arnold Hawkins and injured another person.
Unrelated to the shooting that killed Arnold Hawkins, a joint District Attorney’s Office/FBI investigation was initiated into allegations of police misconduct by officers in the Antioch and Pittsburg Police Departments. During that separate investigation in early 2023, investigators found a trove of racist text messages exchanged by Antioch police officers.
These messages revealed that while investigating the murder suspects that took the life of Arnold Hawkins, the officers were sending and receiving messages about the murder suspects that included racist slurs, images, and written descriptions. The text messages violated the California Racial Justice Act (RJA) — a law that prohibits bias, animus, and racially discriminatory language based on race, ethnicity, or national origin in charges, convictions, and sentences.
In March 2023, the District Attorney’s Office notified the court and the defense bar of the potential RJA violations as it related to open and adjudicated cases. Moreover, as part of the discovery process, the District Attorney’s Office disclosed investigative reports detailing incidents of racial bias and animus in the text messages sent and received by some members of the Antioch Police Department.
Having already filed a motion challenging disproportionate filings in murder cases under the RJA, the defendants filed a second challenge predicated upon the racial bias exhibited by the Antioch police officers investigating the murder case. After multiple hearings, the court dismissed the special circumstance allegations, as well as the gang and firearm enhancements on February 5th, 2024. The case was set for trial when a resolution was reached between the District Attorney’s Office and the defendants.
No contest pleas
In resolving the case, the four defendants have entered pleas of no contest to the following:
Terryonn Pugh: No contest on two counts of attempted murder and voluntary manslaughter – with an additional punishment for the use of a firearm. He will be sentenced in Martinez on May 8th, 2024, to 20 years in state prison.
Eric Windom: No contest on one count of attempted murder and voluntary manslaughter — with an additional punishment for the use of a firearm. He will also serve a concurrent term for a robbery that is unrelated to this case. Windom will be sentenced in Martinez on May 8th, 2024, to 19 years in state prison.
Trent Allen: No contest on one count of attempted murder and voluntary manslaughter — with an additional punishment for the use of a firearm. He will also serve a concurrent term for an unrelated robbery. Allen will be sentenced in Martinez on May 10th, 2024, to 19 years in state prison.
Keyshawn McGee: No contest on one count of attempted murder and voluntary manslaughter — with an additional punishment for the use of a firearm in both the murder and voluntary manslaughter charges. McGee will be sentenced in Martinez on May 10th, 2024, to 13 years, 8 months in state prison.
District Attorney Diana Becton said, “Seeking justice for these serious offenses was complicated by violations to the Racial Justice Act. These lengthy prison sentences, ensure accountability and promote community safety. Hopefully, the outcome will help to heal the loss the victims and survivors experienced.”