OAKLAND — In a Thursday courtroom listening to full of family and friends of each males, Oakland resident Mark Estrada was formally sentenced to 50 years to life in state jail for murdering Hayward police Sgt. Scott Lunger in 2015.
Estrada, 27, pleaded no contest to first diploma homicide with the usage of a firearm earlier this yr, in a plea cope with Alameda County prosecutors. Within the course of, he averted a potential sentence of life with out the opportunity of parole. The sentencing listening to Thursday was a formality to finalize the deal, nevertheless it additionally gave family members of Lunger and Estrada an opportunity to talk publicly for the primary time for the reason that case reached its finish.
Lunger’s girlfriend and daughters advised Choose Don C. Clay how a lot they missed their beloved one throughout key life occasions, like school graduations, and the way he received’t be with them sooner or later.
“My world was shattered,” his oldest daughter stated. Lunger was her coach, mentor, fishing buddy, and “finest buddy,” she stated.
Detective Justin Inexperienced, Lunger’s associate the evening he was killed, described Lunger as a frontrunner within the division and a job mannequin for youthful officers.
“Scott Lunger meant one thing to me,” he advised courtroom members.
Estrada’s mom advised the courtroom she didn’t assume her son was a cold-blooded killer and insisted Lunger was making an attempt to intimidate her son.
Estrada shot Lunger within the head and thigh as Lunger approached the Chevrolet Silverado he had stopped close to Myrtle and Lion streets for swerving on the street at 3:15 a.m. July 22, 2015. Later that morning, Estrada confirmed up at a buddy’s home in East Oakland frantic, bleeding from a wound to his again, and stated he’d been shot by a policeman, based on testimony at his preliminary listening to. He reeked of alcohol and refused to go to the hospital, the buddy testified.
The motive for Lunger’s homicide was baffling; Estrada had no prison file and was being pulled over for a possible DUI. Having a gun in his automobile with no prior convictions is often prosecuted as a misdemeanor in California, and carries a most one-year jail time period.
Lunger was a Brentwood resident and highschool coach whose loss of life was mourned by hundreds in a 2015 funeral and a procession that sprawled all through the East Bay. Hayward police Chief Toney Chaplin known as him “some of the hardworking and devoted public servants this division has ever recognized.”
Estrada accepted the plea deal in early February, simply as his homicide trial was about to start.
Earlier than handing down the sentence, Clay inspired Estrada to do what he might with the years he has left. Estrada could get an opportunity for parole, many years down the road.
“I hope and pray that you just be taught from this, and that you just turn out to be a greater individual,” Clay stated.
Bay Metropolis Information Service contributed reporting to this report.