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A former corrections officer at Santa Rita Jail who has been behind bars at his former workplace is set to be transferred to state prison on a 50-years-to-life sentence for murdering a Dublin couple in 2022.
Tears from the victims’ families poured in the East County Hall of Justice during the sentencing hearing Tuesday morning for former Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputy Devin Williams Jr. as the defendant sat flanked by his two attorneys with his own tearful family members behind him during a series of victim impact statements.
The sentencing comes after a jury convicted Williams last month of double murder for breaking into the home of Benison and Maria Tran, the latter of whom Williams had a romantic relationship with, and shooting the couple with his service weapon before fleeing the scene and discarding the weapon on Sept. 7, 2022.
Three of the couple’s family members – their then-14-year-old child and Maria Tran’s mother and cousin – were left to face their final, bloody moments before police arrived on the scene, by which point both were pronounced dead.
“I can’t forgive you for what you did to my parents,” the couple’s now-16-year-old son, whose identity is not being made public, said in a letter read by prosecutor Ted McGarvey on Tuesday morning. “They didn’t deserve this and I don’t deserve to lose them because of your actions. I will carry this ache, this agony for all of my life.”
In his own brief remarks near the end of the hearing, Williams, now 26, said he would also never forgive himself.
“I recognize the pain and trauma I’ve caused,” Williams said. “No apology will soothe that, but just know that I am truly sorry. I do not expect forgiveness because I will never forgive myself.”
While Williams’ attorneys argued that their client should receive concurrent sentences for the two deaths, Judge Jennifer Madden disagreed with their assessment, instead sentencing Williams to two consecutive 25-years-to-life terms, adding up to 50 years to life.
“There are some things that are not worthy of the compassion and mercy that your attorneys are asking me to impose at this time,” Madden said.
Madden noted that despite years of experience as both a judge and an attorney, the circumstances of Williams’ murder of the Trans were especially gruesome, calling it an “execution”.
“For you to commit these acts – it’s really unthinkable,” Madden told Williams. “I will tell you that I’ve had a lot of trials, I’ve been in a lot of cases both as a judge and as an attorney, and the level of violence that was enacted in this case – the 911 call was the worst 911 call I’ve ever heard in a case.”
Madden and attorneys for both sides characterized Williams’ relationship with Maria Tran, 42, as a deeply unhealthy one that devolved into obsession on Williams’ part, which was amplified once he learned about her marriage to Benison Tran, 57.
“The fact remains that over a period of time information made known to Mr. Williams that he previously did not know, and that had a direct and significant impact on his emotional wellbeing, and over the course of that time he emotionally unraveled,” Williams’ attorneys said.
However, McGarvey cautioned against blaming Maria Tran for her and her husbands’ demise, and critiqued talking points to that effect from the defense that had emerged during the trial.
“These families, Maria and Benison’s families, have been through hell, and they’ve had to sit here and have Maria in particular be vilified, be blamed to be responsible for what happened to her,” McGarvey said. “She certainly was not a willing part in her own murder and the murder of her husband.”
McGarvey went on to call the 50-years-to-life sentence on the table for Williams, “quite frankly not enough for what he did”.
The judge concurred that Williams and no one else was to blame for the murders, despite his attorneys pointing to Maria Tran’s alleged hiding of her marriage as a factor that helped drive him over the edge.
“It was very clear to me during the short relationship that Mr. Williams had with Ms. Tran, that it was a volatile relationship,” Madden said. “It was a very toxic relationship. It’s true that Ms. Tran was not honest with Mr. Williams at the beginning, however, it became very clear months later that she was in another relationship. She was not legally separated or divorced from her husband, and Mr. Williams continued that relationship.”
“He was obsessed with Maria – I don’t think obsessed is too strong of a word – and he was extremely jealous of Benison,” she continued. “As the relationship progressed, it seemed to the court that the jealousy became more and more amplified, resulting in what happened in 2022.”
While Williams’ attorneys asked that his position as a law enforcement officer not be considered as an aggravating circumstance in the sentencing given that he was off-duty at the time, Madden said although she agreed that this was not the same as other police misconduct cases in which officers are on duty at the time of the crime, Williams had left a stain on the profession.
“It’s not lost on me, Mr. Williams, that you took an oath to serve and protect – not only protect the community, but be the person who goes to the aid of our community who are victims and who are vulnerable,” Madden said. “That is the job of law enforcement.”
The shooting just after midnight on Sept. 7, 2022 came shortly after he completed an overtime shift at Santa Rita Jail not far away in Dublin and was on the same day as Williams’ one-year anniversary with the sheriff’s department, having been hired for jail and courthouse duties on Sept. 7, 2021.
Fleeing from the Trans’ house, Williams was on the lam for approximately 12 hours before being taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol after speaking on the phone with then-Dublin police chief Garrett Holmes and others with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, who held an emotional press conference announcing his arrest later that day. Williams received a notice about being removed from his employment upon arriving at Santa Rita Jail for booking that evening.
Madden noted, at the request of Williams’ attorneys, that she had considered his relatively young age – 24 years old at the time – and lack of prior criminal record in deliberating over the sentencing. She also expressed support for Williams’ family, but noted that they would still be able to contact him and see him throughout the course of his incarceration, unlike the Trans’ family and loved ones, and in particular their orphaned son.
“The deceased Mr. and Ms. Tran have family members, some of whom witnessed this,” Madden said. “I can’t even begin to imagine what that was like, especially for the minor child of the two. It was very clear the pain he was going through when he sat about four feet away from and described touching his mother as she breathed some of the last gasps she had.”
Family members of both victims emphasized the important role they each played as “pillars” of both families, as well as the expectations in particular for Benison Tran as the oldest son of an oldest son in Vietnamese culture – as well as losing his own mother at a young age and going on to take care of his disabled father for the remainder of his life.
“Our father was able to handle the news with a heavy heart, and his mental health deteriorated fast,” said Jenna Tran, Benison Tran’s younger sister. “He starts forgetting things, being disoriented, could not pay attention to any activity for an extended period of time.”
Jenna Tran said she had been afraid to talk about her brother’s death with their father for that exact reason.
Meanwhile, there was no delay in finding out about the gruesome tragedy for Maria Tran’s mother, who was present at the scene of her daughter’ death.
“My mother endured the most unimaginable and horrific sight any parent could face – her firstborn child, her beloved daughter taking her last breath and dying in her arms,” said Jennie Wong, Maria Tran’s sister. “This is not just a loss. It was a heart wrenching moment that will forever haunt her. The grief of a mother losing her child is a relentless torment.”
Williams returned to the custody of the sheriff’s office following the hearing and prior to the start of his prison term. He is receiving credit for 917 days served during the time in which he’s been incarcerated amid court proceedings for the case. He has the option to appeal the ruling.
While the criminal case has concluded, the Tran family continues to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and sheriff’s office alleging preferential treatment of Williams, alleging that the couple had previously called the police approximately a month prior to the murders when Williams was knocking on their door and refusing to leave, and that taking action at that time could have prevented the couple’s death. That case was still pending as of Wednesday, according to family members.
