Man Gets Life in Prison for Murdering Alameda Man at Walmart Parking Lot

A 28-year-old Oakland man who bragged about his actions was sentenced Wednesday to life in federal prison plus 35 years for fatally shooting an Alameda man in the parking lot of a Walmart store in East Oakland in broad daylight two years ago.

Damion Sleugh was convicted in July of first-degree murder, robbery and drug conspiracy for shooting 24-year-old Vincent Muzac in the parking lot of the Walmart at 8400 Edgewater Drive at about 12:35 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2013. He was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzales-Rogers Wednesday Federal prosecutors said evidence at Sleugh’s trial showed that he arranged to buy five pounds of marijuana from Muzac at the Walmart parking lot and then shot and robbed Muzac before driving away.

Prosecutors said evidence at Sleugh’s trial included incriminating text messages, FBI crime scene recreations and images of Sleugh with the stolen marijuana. Assistant U.S. Attorney Damalia Taylor said in a sentencing memo that Sleugh should be punished by life in prison because of his “callousness” and “total lack of remorse and absence of conscience.” Taylor said Muzac was unarmed but Sleugh “pressed the muzzle of the gun an inch from Muzac’s flesh and then fired, even as Muzac begged him not to.” Sleugh then pushed the dying Muzac out of the car and sped away, according to the prosecutor. Taylor said two hours after the shooting Sleugh took a “selfie” in the same passenger seat where Muzac had been shot when he got into Sleugh’s car for the marijuana transaction.

Taylor wrote, “If that were not cruel enough, the next day Sleugh went to the mall with his girlfriend, where he smiled and flashed cash for the camera.” The prosecutor said, “In the days following the murder, the jury saw photograph after photograph of the defendant (Sleugh) enjoying the holiday season, even vacationing in Lake Tahoe with friends.”

Taylor said that even after Sleugh was arrested at his Oakland home on Feb. 13, 2014, he didn’t show regret about killing an unarmed man but instead “bragged that others aren’t as smart as he is and bragged that police could not find the murder weapon.”

Sleugh’s attorney, Paul DeMeester, said in his sentencing memo that Sleugh should only be sentenced to 25 years instead of life in prison because the fatal shooting of Muzac, “however, unfortunate and tragic, was neither heinous nor gruesome” and “occurred during the illegal sale of multiple pounds of marijuana in which the victim was the seller.”

DeMeester said only one shot was fired and it “was not to the head or against the heart but instead in the shoulder, not an area where one would expect a fatal wound to occur without fail.” DeMeester said, “The history and characteristics of Mr. Sleugh must also be considered” because his father left his mother before he was born in Jamaica, he was raised by his paternal grandparents and his upbringing “was marked by a neglect of love.” In addition, DeMeester said Sleugh has “a loving and caring partner” and “has much to live for” because he has a 3-year-old daughter who will “provide the impetus to motivate him to turn his life around.”

Prosecutors said Sleugh had two prior felony convictions, one for robbery in Alameda County in April 2008 and one for grand theft in Contra Costa County in December 2006.

By Bay City News

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