OAKLAND — A city resident has been sentenced to nine years in state prison in connection with a 2020 road rage shooting that paralyzed a UC Berkeley student who would die from his injuries months later, court records show.
Jamon Hill, 27, pleaded no contest to a charge of shooting an inhabited vehicle. In exchange, prosecutors dropped murder charges related to the killing of 32-year-old Quoc Tran, a UC Berkeley staffer who used his cellphone to photograph Hill’s car moments before he was shot.
The evidence linking Hill to Tran’s shooting had mostly to do with a gold Lexus ES 350 that was seen on both surveillance video and in a photo taken by Tran. The surveillance video showed Tran trying to get away from the car as it chased him.
Hill was identified as the owner of the Lexus, and when police attempted to pull him over the day after Tran was shot, he sped away, then stopped, got out of the car, ran away, and got arrested by an Oakland officer. In a subsequent interview he admitted the car was his but claimed he’d lent it to a friend the day earlier, though he declined to name the person, according to court records.
The gun found in the car was compared to bullet fragments in Tran’s shooting, but while it was found to be tied to a prior nonfatal shooting, it couldn’t be linked or eliminated as the weapon. Police then showed Tran a photo lineup that included Hill. But Tran — who could only communicate with an alphabet chart due to his extensive injuries — didn’t pick out anyone from the lineup as the person who shot him, according to court records.
Hill was formally sentenced at a May 26 court hearing, a month after pleading no contest.
Tran, who was known to his family as “Koko,” was described in online postings by family and friends as “a warrior” who “fought hard to the very end.” In a statement, Felix Deleon, director of campus operations at UC Berkeley, said Tran was “instrumental in developing some of our processes,” including a COVID supply store that is used across campus.
“In the last year since the incident we witnessed his strength, dedication, and courage,” Deleon said. “He was a valuable member of our team and will be greatly missed.”
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