Cop killed woman he was dating and her husband, CA officials say. He’s going to prison

A deputy is going to prison after being convicted of fatally shooting the woman he was seeing and her husband, California officials said.

In September 2022, Devin Williams, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputy, left work and went to the home of Maria Tran and her husband, Benison Tran, in Dublin, McClatchy News reported.

Williams used his Alameda County-issued gun to shoot the couple, then fled the area and was later arrested in Fresno, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

Williams, 26, was found guilty of murder in October, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to 50-years-to-life Nov. 12, according to KTVU and KRON.

McClatchy News reached out to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office for comment on Nov. 13 and was awaiting a response.

William was in a relationship with Tran, but she was living with her husband, according to an Oct. 3 news release by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

Weeks before, after Tran tried ending her relationship with Williams, he showed up at her home, according to a wrongful death lawsuit obtained by KRON.

The couple alerted police on Aug. 8, 2022, but the responding officer gave “Williams ‘preferential treatment’ due to his employment as a sheriff’s deputy,” KRON reported, citing the lawsuit.

Family members of the Trans filed the wrongful death suit in 2023 saying if Williams had been fired, the couple might still be alive, according to the lawsuit obtained by the outlet.

The Trans’ 14-year-old son was in the house during the shooting, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Dublin is about a 30-mile drive east of San Francisco.

This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Cop killed woman he was dating and her husband, CA officials say. He’s going to prison."