DUBLIN – Eyewitnesses testified, revealing the motive for the fatal 2023 beating and strangulation attack on the Union City railroad tracks. The attack was allegedly carried out by a person who was attempting to evict the victim from a homeless encampment.
Brandon Kong, 49, is due in court next month to plead guilty to the charge of murdering Jason Deleon on March 11, 2023. At a preliminary hearing in April, a judge reviewed the prosecution's evidence and ordered Kong to go on trial despite the defense's attempt to cut back the charge from murder to manslaughter.
The principal witnesses were residents of the camp who described Kong as a friend and Deleon as an uninvited guest on the camp in Union City along the railroad tracks between 33375 Central Avenue and 33390 Transit Avenue. A lady there accused Deleon of stealing from her and told him to go away. When he refused, Kong stepped in to force him to make a choice, she testified.
But Kong went too far, the witnesses said, they usually urged him to finish the attack.
“I watched them and told them to stop because he's just not worth it, you know?” testified a person who lived on the camp. “They were on the ground and then Brandon put him in a chokehold so that Jason couldn't move.”
Witnesses and police say Kong hit Deleon with a frying pan after which choked him. The woman whose accusation sparked the conflict said she heard Deleon screaming for help and Kong dragging him down the tracks.
“He was screaming and begging for help because he was still alive, and then suddenly I heard it stop,” she said, adding that Kong got here back with blood on his pants and with the pocket knife the lady had stolen from Deleon.
Kong's attorney pleaded manslaughter, saying Kong likely unintentionally strangled Deleon while putting him in a chokehold, severing his carotid artery and never realizing he was inflicting fatal injuries. Alameda County Judge Amy Sekany rejected that argument and sentenced Kong to the murder charge.
Kong's arraignment has been postponed several times because the preliminary hearing and is now scheduled for September 19. In the meantime, he stays detained without bail.
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