Murder or unconscious kill? Jury deliberates triple shooting at home rented by ex-Kings player

Five years ago 14 bullets sprayed through a home, striking three roommates and killing one, all renting rooms in a Vineyard home tied to a former Sacramento Kings player.

Trey Devaughn Hallman, prosecutors said, mounted a surprise attack Aug. 23, 2019, to kill the three men as they slept in the Tuscan-styled estate. Deputy District Attorney Samuel Alexander told jurors at the end of Hallman’s two-week trial that the 30-year-old, who shared the home on the corner of Clover Ranch Drive and Vineyard Road, had a plan to carry out his attack before an escape to Antioch.

The jury inside a Sacramento Superior courtroom listened Thursday as Alexander painted a picture of a deeply troubled roommate whose deliberate actions shocked neighbors of the home being leased by former Kings player Willie Cauley-Stein.

Hallman has pleaded not guilty to murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Defense attorney Daniel Karalash told jurors in his closing statement that Hallman was unconscious and wasn’t aware of his actions as he fired the bullets. His client, he said, suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries from more than 20 concussions due to a lifetime of playing football.

On the morning of the attack, Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies were called about 5:30 a.m. to 10000 block of Clover Ranch Drive after a roommate dialed 911 for help, saying he had been shot by another roommate, according to previous Bee reporting. The five-bedroom and five-bathroom estate on the corner of Clover Ranch Drive and Vineyard Road was valued at $1.2 million in 2019.

Prosecutors contend that Hallman calculated and planned to murder Terrell Brown, Blakye Ares and Damon Saunders. He donned a bulletproof vest, packed his car to drive back home and emptied nearly two magazines in his efforts, Alexander said.

There is no reason a person should fire at victims sleeping in beds, if they didn’t seek to murder someone, Alexander said. He flashed pictures for the jury showing a bed riddled with bullet holes and a pillow drenched with blood where one of the men was shot while sleeping.

“That is not an accident, ladies and gentlemen,” Alexander said. “That is an intent to kill.”

Seven men and five women now have to determine whether Hallman’s actions amounted to first- or second-degree murder.

The defendant had little reaction to the prosecution’s closing arguments, but did shake his head when Alexander interpreted for the jurors that Hallman uttered, “Oh, f---” during the shooting, as a video of the attack played out on a screen.

But Hallman — who played high school and Division I college football — wasn’t aware of his surroundings, Karalash countered. Just before the incident, Hallman was also struck across his head, which could have triggered a concussion for someone whose head had been previously battered, Karalash said.

Hallman’s mental state was described in communications with investigators in the wake of the attack. Hallman told authorities after he was detained that afternoon that he didn’t know what was real when interviewed about the shooting, Karalash said.

It was a common habit for Hallman, Karalash said, to wear a bulletproof vest because he wanted to protect himself while sleeping. His client often lived in his car and slept in San Francisco’s Tenderloin’s district while occasionally staying at the Silver Springs subdivision home, which featured a basketball court and guest villa.

Hallman’s father — John Hallman of Dodge City, Kansas — alluded to his son’s behavior at the time, telling The Bee before his son was captured, “There’s more to the story.”

He said his son was a Lyft driver in Sacramento and that growing up he had been an honors student all four years of high school.

“He was in a mentoring program, he was in the young entrepreneurship program here,” the father said, adding that Hallman had never before been in trouble. “He was four-time state-qualified for basketball all four years, and a pretty good football player. He was a good son, still is a good son.”

Cauley-Stein, who at the time of the shooting had moved on to play with the Golden State Warriors, was not at the property at the time of the shooting and did not comment on it.

Prosecutors maintained their focus on Hallman — whose father at the time said his son had become fearful of one of his roommates — saying his state of mind was never fully explained.

“The defendant has his reasons,” Alexander said. “They are nonsensical. … And, I submit to you, that he does not even believe them.” It would be dishonest, Alexander said, if Hallman claimed the shooting was in self-defense or if he was unconscious.

“There is no ‘why’ that is going to justify shooting men in their beds while they are sleeping … the people who called him a friend,” he said.