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Alameda County Approves $36 Million Settlement Over Deputy’s Killing of Dublin Couple

The payout spotlights alleged hiring lapses that lawyers say enabled the killings.

Overview

  • Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors approved the $36 million payout Tuesday, ending the Tran family’s wrongful-death lawsuit.
  • The county expects insurers and a shared risk pool to cover most of the cost, and the sum ranks among the largest tied to the Sheriff’s Office.
  • Off-duty Deputy Devin Williams used his department-issued gun to kill Maria and Benison Tran inside their Dublin home in September 2022 as their 14-year-old son and relatives looked on, and he was later convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years to life.
  • Court filings say a month earlier, responding deputies treated Williams as “one of us,” failed to follow domestic-violence rules, advised against an emergency protective order, turned off body-camera microphones, and falsified the 911 record.
  • Records show Williams had failed a pre-employment psychological exam with a “D. Not Suited” rating, and a subsequent audit found about 47 deputies received the same rating even though California rules say such candidates should not be hired as peace officers.