OAKLAND — Two alleged Hayward gang members accepted plea deals with wildly different prison terms, just before they were set to go on trial for a 2013 double homicide that police say was motivated by “checking” the victims’ possible gang status.
Eric Estrada, 31, and Dylan Redding, 28, have been in custody for nearly 10 years, facing charges of murdering Daniel Garcia-Sanchez, 21, and Carlos Estrada-Partida, 18, in August 2013. Last March, Estrada was formally sentenced to 11 years in state prison and Redding was sentenced to 29, after pleading no contest to two counts of manslaughter and assault, court records show.
Both defendants blamed each other for the shooting when they were questioned by police, though authorities say Estrada’s DNA was found on the .357 Magnum revolver that killed both victims. According to investigators, Estrada and Redding were affiliated with a Northern California gang based in the Decoto area, and asked both victims if they were gang members by saying, “where you from?”
When one of the victims sarcastically replied, “My mama,” Estrada allegedly opened fire, killing both victims. At the time, he was on probation for an assault conviction stemming from a 2010 assault of a door-to-door subscription salesman working for the Oakland Tribune. Redding later told police they believed the victims to be rival gang members from Union City, according to court records.
Redding entered a no contest plea to two second degree murder counts on Feb. 4, just as the two were set to go to trial. At his change of plea hearing, prosecutors said that if he “cooperated with the terms of the plea agreement” the charges would be reduced to a single manslaughter count and an 11-year prison term. Two weeks later, Estrada agreed to plead no contest to double manslaughter and receive his 29-year term.
Once Estrada accepted his plea deal, Redding’s murder convictions were reduced to the lone manslaughter count, and he was given credit for good behavior that allowed him to be released from jail. Estrada is still in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, awaiting transfer to state prison.
Redding’s attorney declined to comment on the deal and Estrada’s lawyer didn’t return requests for comment.
Source: www.mercurynews.com