The man convicted inwards the 2022 robbery and fatal shot of a heroical protection ward at Sacramento, Calif.’s Capitol Casino testament spend the ease of his lifetime slow bars.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman handed down the condemn for Dawan Pecot, 38, on Friday. He has no chance for parole.
In November, Pecot was convicted by a jury after a felonious visitation on first-degree hit and second-degree robbery charges for the August 22, 2022 killing.
Initially, Pecot attempted to rob the poker room. The certificate guard, Sean Bernal, 27, apprehended Pecot inner the cardroom. Bernal pulled out a taser and ordered Pecot to walkway come out of the building.
But once outside, Pecot displayed a gun. He walked rearward into the casino and went up to the cashier’s cage. He aimed the gun at a gambling casino employee and demanded money.
But Bernal got dorsum interior the edifice and approached Pecot. He pulled come out his taser over again and tried to zap Pecot.
Pecot dig Bernal unity in the neck. The bingle stab killed Bernal.
A cassino employee handed Pecot o'er $38K and the bandit ran come out of the casino. group A cardroom worker followed him to a nearby vehicle.
When California law officers arrived at the casino, Pecot had exited his railway car and fired a dig toward the cassino employee. It missed the worker. Pecot tried to run for forth but officers stopped up(p) him and he was arrested.
He ab initio claimed he was myopic of breath, so officers took him to a local hospital, according to CBS News. After beingness seen past a MD he was booked at Sacramento County Main Jail.
Bernal Was Hero
Following the shooting, Bernal’s mother, Susan Bernal, told Sacramento TV station KTXL her boy loved his chore and explained he went after the robber to protect the public.
“Sean was out of the casino, from what i understand, and he went support inward to seek to save up the railway car dealers, the workers, the coworkers, anybody he could, to capture them out,” Susan Bernal said inward an interview.
He wouldn’t experience been able-bodied to live with himself and come up rest home that nighttime or that solar day if he’d known that he didn’t fare cypher and somebody else got killed. So, for that, I’m sort of pissed off. But i interpret why you did it, but I’m tolerant of mad that he did it.”
Bernal also is survived past a daughter who was i twelvemonth older when he was murdered.
Prior Shootings
The Capitol Building Casino has seen other shootings inward recent years. For instance, inwards 2016 a gambling casino employee, St. Nicholas Broadway, was fatally slam alfresco the cardroom.
He got caught in an change of gunfire between an off-duty Sacramento constabulary officer and Luis Alfonso Castillo. Castillo was arrested and later sentenced to 40 years inwards prison for second-degree murder.
Also, inward 2021, Renee Walker was pellet out of doors the cardroom. Three days later, she passed away.
Arviel Robertson, 36, was charged with Walker’s death. The homicide case is pending inwards a Calif. court.