After 4 1/2 days of deliberations, a jury on July 24 convicted an Eastlake man and his friend of two first-degree murders that were gang related.
The verdicts came in the eighth week of trial for Donte Jerome Haddock, 28, of Eastlake, and Anthony Constantin Frank, 28, of El Cajon. They were both found guilty of the special circumstances of murder while lying in wait, discharging a firearm from a vehicle, and committing multiple murders.
Grossmont College student Darris Walker, 20, was shot to death inside a car on April 30, 2011, in a rear parking lot outside Marie Callender’s restaurant near La Mesa.
Xusha Brown, Jr., 22, was shot in the head as he was in the front seat of a car on Interstate 8 on May 5, 2013. Brown was with Malcolm Hune, 27, who was driving and he was also wounded. Jurors convicted both men of attempted murder.
“(Expletive) crazy!” said Rosemary Haddock, the mother of Donte Haddock, angrily as she walked out, saying afterwards it was unfair.
The seven man, five woman jury also found allegations true that both Frank and Haddock committed the slayings to benefit a criminal street gang.
Deputy District Attorney Sophia Roach said both men face two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole because of the special circumstances that the jury found true.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Louis Hanoian set sentencing for Oct. 11. Both men remain in jail without bail.
“I am very pleased to see this group of diligent jurors who were able to return a verdict for all these families,” said Roach afterwards.
“One of these families have waited since 2011 and the other since 2013,” said Roach. “I am grateful to the jurors for their time.”
Attorneys for Frank and Haddock told jurors other people committed the slayings and they both critical of a plea bargain that Alaeante Akila Eason, 29, of Chula Vista, received from pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and testifying against their clients.
Frank’s attorney, Zaki Zehawi, told jurors that Eason was the real killer of Brown. Eason faces a prison sentence ranging from four to 16 years when he is sentenced on Aug. 20.
Haddock’s attorney, Jane Kinsey, acknowledged that her client was a gang member, but told jurors “don’t judge a book by its cover.” She told jurors Haddock was “pigeon holed as a criminal at a young age” by authorities.
Roach told jurors that Frank was likely the gunman who fired six shots at the car in which Brown was killed. Brown was not a gang member, but Hune, the driver, “was clearly their target.”
“The first shot was from behind,” argued Roach, who said it went through the back windshield and killed Brown.
Jurors also convicted both men of conspiracy to commit murder. They re-heard testimony of some witnesses read back to them by the court reporter during their deliberations.
Neither Donte Haddock or Frank testified. Haddock will next appear in court on Sept. 5 for the judge to determine if a previous felony conviction is valid.
Eason will also be sentenced Aug. 20 on other cases involving his guilty pleas to obtaining prescriptions by fraud and pandering by encouraging someone to become a prostitute, according to court records. Eason remains in jail.
