Lakehead 'hate crime' shooter found guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter gets prison
Story update: April 11, 2023: Silas Matthew Hesselberg was sentenced to a 20 year, 4 month prison sentence by Shasta County Superior Court Judge Monique McKee. Hesselberg will be required to serve at least 85% of the sentence, which was delivered on April 6.
The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office had asked that Hesselberg receive the maximum sentence of 32 years and 4 months.Hesselberg, of Sacramento, was found guilty in February of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semi-automatic firearm after firing on two people in Lakehead in 2021, putting one in the hospital with a serious brain injury.
Original story
The Sacramento man on trial for firing on two people in Lakehead in 2021 — putting one in the hospital with a serious brain injury — was found guilty Wednesday of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semi-automatic firearm.
The Shasta County Superior Court jury found Silas Matthew Hesselberg not guilty on the more serious charges of attempted murder of the two friends, who authorities said were on an outing with family members at the Salt Creek Inlet near the old Highway 99 bridge on April 18, 2021.
"We're not fully satisfied," said Daisha Barber outside the courthouse on Wednesday, standing beside her husband, William Travis Barber. "It's a very hard picture to paint for 12 people who weren't there to see what we saw, to go through what we have."
"The facts were pretty heinous," Daisha Barber added, saying that she considered the incident "full of hate. One of the biggest lessons I learned is that hate is real."
According to Shasta County Sheriff's Office detectives, Hesselberg "went out of his way" to start a confrontation. He ended up shooting the two men, including Barber of Shasta Lake, who was hospitalized with a serious brain injury.
Barber's friend — a 41-year-old Black man who has not been named by officials to protect his privacy — was treated for his injuries and released, according to authorities.
The jury's verdict agreed with a hate crime allegation involving Hesselberg's initial target in the shooting, the 41-year-old friend.
More: Shasta Lake man recovers after being shot defending friend from hate crime
The jury did not agree with hate crime allegations against Hesselberg for Barber, the man Hesselberg shot in the head. Barber, who is white, had come to the aid of his friend, according to court documents.
The jury also agreed with a special misdemeanor allegation accusing Hesselberg of engaging in "violent conduct that indicates a serious danger to society."
The jury failed to reach consensus on charges of child endangerment involving two youths who were present during the incident. At the time, they were 6 and 13 years old.
Late morning on Wednesday, Judge Monique McKee ordered jurors to resume their deliberations on the misdemeanor child endangerment charges.
The jurors remained deadlocked and those charges were ultimately dismissed, said Matthew Izzi, the attorney representing Hesselberg.
Sentencing in the case is scheduled to take place on April 6, said Izzi. The victims can address the court at the sentencing hearing if they choose to, the DA's office said.
"The sentencing needs to be held strong," said Daisha Barber after the criminal verdicts were read. "It's been two years. We just need to be able to move past this and move on. It's hurtful that we're still living through it."
More: Shasta County hate crime trial: double-shooting suspect takes the stand
According to Shasta County Sheriff's Office detectives, Hesselberg "went out of his way" to start a confrontation at the Salt Creek Inlet.
During court proceedings last week, Hesselberg told the jury he considered himself to be a victim in the incident.
Hesselberg pleaded not guilty and said he had lost two years of his life “for charges that are unfounded and false.”
After Hesselberg was detained in 2021, detectives and crime scene technicians found the gun used in the shooting, which did not have a serial number and was not registered. Officials searched Hesselberg's campsite and found a disassembled "AR-style rifle" without a serial number and two silencers for a pistol, authorities said.
The weapons were presented in court last week. At the time of the shooting in Lakehead, Hesselberg had been served by the Sacramento County Superior Court with a civil harassment restraining order which said he was not to possess guns or ammunition, according to Senior Deputy Shasta County District Attorney Emily Mees.
"As far as the felonies go, this jury spent two days being thorough with very difficult evidence," said defense attorney Izzi. "No matter how I may ultimately want a case to go for my client, I am grateful for the work the jurors did."
Michele Chandler covers criminal justice issues for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She welcomes story tips at 530-338-7753, at michele.chandler@redding.com or on Twitter at @MChandler_RS. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County 'hate crime' shooter receives prison sentence
