{"id":206456,"date":"2026-03-06T00:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206456\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T00:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:54:08","slug":"man-convicted-in-sacramento-murder-of-ex-capradio-executive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206456\/","title":{"rendered":"Man convicted in Sacramento murder of ex-CapRadio executive"},"content":{"rendered":"

A jury on Thursday found a man guilty of murder in the 2022 shooting death of a former Capital Public Radio executive killed<\/a> during a robbery in broad daylight outside an East Sacramento tennis club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DeSean Leon Brasser Jr<\/a>., 26, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Charles Starzynski, a former program director at CapRadio.<\/a> Starzynski, 70, was shot about 12:30 p.m. Oct. 20, 2022, in an alley near the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club<\/a> near 39th and N streets.<\/p>\n

Brasser\u2019s conviction included a special circumstances enhancement for committing the murder during a robbery, along with enhancements for using a gun in the deadly crime.<\/p>\n

The jury in Brasser\u2019s trial began deliberations Wednesday afternoon, only deliberating for about an hour. The jurors returned Thursday morning to resume deliberations in Sacramento Superior Court, and their verdict was read in court at 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Judge Michael Sweet ordered Brasser to return to court April 10 for his sentencing hearing, when Starzynski\u2019s family and friends will have an opportunity to speak in court on the impact of his death. Brasser faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

\"Flowers Flowers and handwritten cards rest the alley near the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club in East Sacramento on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, close to the location of the fatal shooting of Charles Starzynski, before a private community meeting at the club about the incident. Sara Nevis Sacramento Bee file <\/p>\n

Brasser remains in custody at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center near Elk Grove, where he has been held since Oct. 21, 2022, arrest.<\/p>\n

Starzynski helmed Sacramento public radio stations KXPR-FM and KXJZ-FM, which operate under broadcast licenses held by Sacramento State, for nearly 20 years from 1979 to 1998.<\/p>\n

The former CapRadio executive and Brasser did not know each other. Detectives believe Brasser and an accomplice, Tajenae Unique Cooper, followed Starzynski from a local bank<\/a> to where the shooting occurred, the Sacramento Police Department<\/a> said at the time of Cooper\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

How the armed robbery happened<\/p>\n

Starzynski had gone to a bank ATM in midtown Sacramento to make business deposits for a local food chain and walked back to his car carrying a blue bank bag that he put in his trunk, according to a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Brasser was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Cooper, and the pair followed Starzynski out of the bank parking lot and into the parking alley near the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club.<\/p>\n

Starzynski got out of his car and stood behind his vehicle with the trunk open. Prosecutors said Cooper then pulled up next to Starzynski, and Brasser got out holding a gun.<\/p>\n

A witness heard Brasser yell at \u201cgive me the bag\u201d as he approached Starzynski and reached into the open trunk to steal the bank bag, according to the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Brasser then pulled items out of the trunk before shooting Starzynski in the head, killing him.<\/p>\n

The suspect vehicle left the area. Police said officers arrived within four minutes and found Starzynski, who was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

\"Crime Crime scene tape and screens surround an area under investigation by Sacramento Police officers on Oct. 20, 2002, after a fatal shooting at 39th and N streets near the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club in Sacramento. Paul Kitagaki Jr. Sacramento Bee file <\/p>\n

Witnesses at the scene gave police two letters of the license plate of the suspect vehicle. Police officials have said that within 45 minutes, investigators identified the suspect vehicle, its license plate and a potential suspect, later identified as Brasser. Police said detectives within two hours were outside the suspect\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Brasser was arrested later that night after he reportedly fled from police and tried to hide in an apartment complex on Florin Road and Shoal Court in Sacramento\u2019s Pocket neighborhood<\/a>. Police said at the time that officers caught up to Brasser as he sat in the car believed to have been used in the robbery.<\/p>\n

Accomplice pleaded guilty<\/p>\n

Cooper, 26, was identified as an accomplice<\/a> in the deadly armed robbery and arrested as a suspect in the case. Cooper was arrested on suspicion of robbery in connection with Starzynski\u2019s shooting death outside the tennis club in East Sacramento\u2019s Fabulous 40s neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Cooper, who was prosecuted separately as a co-defendant in the case, pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery on Feb. 9, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney\u2019s Office. She is scheduled to return to court May 29 for her sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said the evidence presented in the murder case included video, traces of DNA from a cellphone dropped by the gunman that matched Brasser and ballistics matching a gun found in Brasser\u2019s mother\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 3:24 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Rosalio Ahumada<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Rosalio Ahumada writes breaking news stories related to crime and public safety for The Sacramento Bee. He speaks Spanish fluently and has worked as a news reporter in the Central Valley since 2004.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A jury on Thursday found a man guilty of murder in the 2022 shooting death of a former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[95276,95278,95277,95275,121,123,122,95279],"class_list":{"0":"post-206456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-brasser-conviction","9":"tag-capradio-executive-death","10":"tag-charles-starzynski-shooting","11":"tag-east-sacramento-murder","12":"tag-sacramento","13":"tag-sacramento-headlines","14":"tag-sacramento-news","15":"tag-sacramento-robbery"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}