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.
15 comments
The US INJUSTICE Dept.
Why aren’t they doing ANYTHING about all of the phone scammers scaming the elderly out of their life savings??.?
So much for the Do Not Call list.
AND let’s not talk about all of the trespassing suspects aka breaking and entering being labeled as “squatters”.
WHAT A JOKE
Hmm, . . . . an exactly who was the designated ADULT in antioch city government who was supposed to be providing oversight during the good-ole-boy playtime ? ? ?
Citizens of antioch have been screwed over for years by an apparently unaccountable city government.
Needs to be a house cleaning from the top on down.
hibadde bibadee and bop can have fun picking up the soap
These animals belong in a cage for the rest of their lives regardless if their feelings were hurt or not. Why don’t the wonderful citizens of Antioch change the narrative? Until then I stick with the PD. The text messages will never be the real reason the town is trash, and people who look through all lenses know that. But hey there’s Lamar, let’s not profile lol.
I don’t understand the logic. So if a cop happens to be racist in something they said, that then justifies that murderers gets turned loose? Who are they going to murder next? More crazy California laws! ( and nowadays you could be called racist because you didn’t smile at somebody if they’re not the same ethnicity that you are). And I’m sure this is going to mean that streets will be safer for us all now, right? Wrong@
Two wrongs make a civil right.
Cry racism and you can even get a murder sentence reduced.
We have become a failed civilization.
What brutality did the accused do in the past? Can we add that to their sentences?
These are animals. Career criminals who have gone unchecked all their lives. They got roughed up by PD a little bit? So what? compared to all the pain and suffering they have caused their victims over years of breaking laws and running amuk. Throw them in jail or get a rope.
Criminals have rights. If cops violate the criminals’ rights, they get reduced punishment or no punishment. If the cops rough them up, the city will pay and cops go to jail. Easy peasy.
If they suffered abuse at the hands of law enforcement, that doesn’t make their acts any less illegal or evil. No surprise that fact is lost on you.
No it doesn’t. But if the cops abuse criminals, the cops’ employer (the city) will cough up some serious $. And in case that the abuse is severe, the cops could go to jail. My understanding is that the DA gave the four defendants lesser charges (manslaughter instead of murder) because of cops misconduct (there were some abuse by the cop)
Thanks for the laugh 😉
You keep supplying the jokes, and we will laugh Paul.
Your argument states that the criminals were given lesser charges because the police officer ‘abused’ them … The criminal should NEVER be given a lesser charge because of the actions of others.
The only joke here is the space between your ears.
Anyone out there doing a Cop’s job ?
Wiping that sh*t out their minds before going home to their families ?
Let It Roll, Antioch Police, the D.A. & Judges & media might not have your backs, but we law-abiding citizens appreciate you as Peace Officers.
Backing the Blue !!!
Comments are closed.