An off-duty California sheriff's deputy has been charged with murder in the deaths of a married couple, who were found dead in their home early Wednesday morning.
Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Devin Williams Jr, 24, was allegedly dating the female victim, according to court documents. The victims were identified as 42-year-old Maria Tran and her husband of two decades, 57-year-old Benison Tran from Dublin.
Williams was in a Relationship with Tran
According to court documents, Williams was in a romantic relationship with Tran, and according to his father in the documents, the victim had been to Williams' family home in Stockton.The district attorney's office says Williams is being charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances. Dublin police were called to the couple's home just after midnight on Wednesday.
"The caller said that there was an intruder that had come into the house," said Dublin Police Chief Garrett Holmes on Wednesday. "That was brandishing a firearm, and ultimately fired that firearm and killing two people in our community."
During the time of the shooting, investigators say the couple had a juvenile child and two other people visiting their home. Police say Williams entered the home just after midnight on Wednesday and shot the married couple.
According to the Alameda County Sherriff's Office, the commotion woke up the pair's 14-year-old-son, who walked in on the crime in progress. The court document says when deputies arrived, an unknown family member identified the intruder as "Devin" and "he is a cop."
Williams fled the scene, but the sheriff's office says he turned himself in nearly 11 hours later in Coalinga in the Central Valley. He was booked into Santa Rita jail.
Williams' Mother Said Her Son Didn't Know Tran was Married
Anitra Williams, the accused killer's mother, said she had warned her son against being with Maria Tran, whom he had met at John George Psychiatric Hospital in San Leandro, where Tran worked as a nurse. She said her son was "blinded by love."
"She told him she loved him, they were on a 10-day trip," she said.
But Anitra Williams said she believed Maria Tran hadn't told her son the truth when they started dating back in January. Tran "represented herself as an unmarried woman," Anitra Williams said. "In fact, her exact words were she was a 35-year-old single parent who had been recently divorced."
