OAKLAND — Days before his murder trial was to start, Trevor Simpson took a plea deal that will determine whether prison or freedom lies in his future.
Now, Simpson, 21, is the star witness against his former co-defendant, William Hommert, who is accused of murdering 24-year-old Lance Barr in an October 2020 shooting in Oakland. Simpson was originally charged as an aider and abettor, based on the theory that he drove Hommert, 26, to the 2100 block of MacArthur Boulevard, where Hommert allegedly shot Barr three times.
On April 5, Simpson pleaded no contest to second degree murder, with a sentencing continued until after trial. He faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life, but if he testifies truthfully prosecutors will move to place him on house arrest instead, deputy district attorney Adam McConney told jurors during opening statements Monday morning.
McConney said video surveillance showed Barr’s silver SUV did three “predatory laps” around Barr’s car before stopping, allowing Hommert to get out and “calmly” fire three times into the vehicle before returning to the SUV. He said that phone GPS evidence, another eyewitness, and jail calls between Hommert and his girlfriend would back up Simpson’s account of what happened.
The motive, McConney said, was a dispute over Hommert’s girlfriend. He showed the jury text messages where Hommert wrote that he didn’t like that the woman was spending time with “Remics,” which McConney said was Barr’s nickname.
Thomas Knutsen, a defense attorney representing Hommert, told the jury that police focused on Hommert and ignored evidence that he was innocent. He said that Simpson was merely trying to save himself by throwing Hommert under the bus, and that police recovered a hat and Gatorade bottle from the pavement near the murder scene that contained Simpson’s DNA.
The items were on the ground because it was Simpson, not Hommert, who exited the vehicle, Knutsen told jurors.
After both attorneys were done giving their pitch, it was Simpsons’ turn to speak. He identified Hommert in court and described Oct. 5, 2020, the day Barr was shot and killed. He said he was “smoking” at the Alameda shoreline when a mutual friend invited him to play video games with a group of people, including Hommert.
Simpson testified he drove to go hang out with the group in his silver Toyota 4Runner, which he was living out of at the time. He said that at some point in the evening, Hommert asked him for a ride and then ended up MacArthur Avenue, where Hommert spotted Barr’s Mercedes.
Simpson said Hommert had made comments bout killing someone, but added, “I didn’t think anything of it because he didn’t seem like that kind of person…he never really struck me as the kind of person to play with guns.”
He said they stopped a short distance from the Mercedes and Hommert got out.
“He tried to shoot the person and it didn’t work so he racked the slide back and shot three times,” Simpson said. He said afterwards he dropped off Hommert and their passenger, a man named Terrance, then drove to San Leandro to sleep at a friend’s house.
“I was scared,” Simpson said.
Four months later, Simpson got into the 4Runner to go to work and a suburban smashed into his car out of nowhere. Before Simpson could react he was staring down the barrel of a police AR-15, he testified. He has been in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin ever since.
Simpson is expected to be cross-examined tomorrow. During opening statements, Knutsen said Simpson had lied repeatedly to police, including by denying that he had his car that day. Simpson told officers that “three big white dudes with tattoos” carjacked him the day of the murder, and that he coincidentally discovered the car in Oakland soon after.
Source: www.mercurynews.com