Defendant Convicted In Oakland Drug Deal Murder

OAKLAND, CA — A Hayward man has been convicted of first-degree murder and attempted voluntary manslaughter for a shooting during a drug deal in East Oakland four years ago that left one man dead and another wounded.Alameda County Superior Court jurors announced their verdict against Hasson Hedgepeth, 22, late Friday afternoon after three days of deliberations.

Prosecutor Butch Ford said in his closing argument that Hedgepeth fatally shot Philip Montenegro Jr., who was 19, and wounded Brandon Smith, now 23, in the 2900 block of 106th Avenue at about 8:20 p.m. on Oct. 4, 2013, during a transaction in which the two men were going to buy $500 worth of codeine syrup from him.

Ford said Hedgepeth shot Montenegro and Smith after the two men balked at the deal because they thought Hedgepeth was trying to sell them an inferior brand of syrup.

But Hedgepeth's attorney Jane Brown told jurors in her closing argument that he should be found not guilty of all of the charges against him because she believes he acted in self-defense after Montenegro grabbed him
and Smith rushed him.

Brown said it was dark when the transaction occurred and Hedgepeth thought Montenegro and Smith might be armed with guns, even though he had considered Montenegro to be a friend and had done business with both men before.

Ford said Montenegro and Smith were unarmed during the encounter. Ford said jurors should believe a prosecution witness who said he saw Hedgepeth shoot Montenegro once, rifle through Montenegro's pockets to look for money and then shoot him twice more to finish him off.

But Brown said Montenegro's autopsy only showed one bullet going through his body and is consistent with Hedgepeth's testimony that he was only trying to scare Montenegro and Smith, not kill them. "There's no evidence that Hedgepeth had any ill will or malice" toward the two men, Brown said.

Hedgepeth testified during his trial that "I wasn't thinking" when he shot Montenegro. "I wish I didn't do it and I regret it," he said.

Under cross-examination by Ford, Hedgepeth admitted that after the shooting he posted rap videos in which he boasted, "I got some bodies under my belt" and said that if people messed with him "then it's R.I.P. [rest in
peace]."

Although jurors convicted Hedgepeth of first-degree murder for Montenegro's death and attempted voluntary manslaughter for shooting Smith, they deadlocked on a special circumstance allegation that he murdered
Montenegro during the course of a robbery.

Hedgepeth is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock

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