A Sacramento County jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder in a deadly shooting that happened three and a half years ago in the city’s Fab 40s neighborhood.
DeSean Brasser shot and killed Charles Starzynski, 70, on October 20, 2022, outside the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said the jury also found true that Brasser robbed Starzynski.
That day, Starzynski had gone to an ATM in Midtown Sacramento to make business deposits for a local food chain, prosecutors said. Brasser, who was a passenger in a vehicle nearby driven by another suspect, spotted Starzynski walking back to his vehicle and placing a blue bank bag in his trunk.
Brasser followed Starzynski as he drove away and into the parking area behind the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club. That is when law enforcement officials said Brasser, armed with a gun, approached Starzynski as he was standing at the rear of the vehicle with the trunk open.
Prosecutors said a witness heard Brasser say “give me the bag” before he pulled items out of Starzynski’s trunk and shot him in the head.
Brasser then returned to his vehicle, and the driver, Tajenae Cooper, drove them both away from the scene. The vehicle was located at an apartment complex, where Brasser was arrested the next day. Cooper was arrested weeks later on December 7, 2022.
The district attorney’s office said evidence used in the case included video, DNA from a phone dropped by Brasser, and ballistics matching a gun that was found in Brasser’s mother’s house.
Brasser, 26, now faces a life sentence without parole. His hearing is scheduled for April 10.
Earlier this month, Cooper, 26, pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery and she also admitted that Brasser had been armed with a gun at the time of the shooting. Cooper is set to be sentenced on May 29.
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