Fresno man, 21, will spend life in prison without parole for pot deal that turned deadly
A man who was convicted earlier this year of committing a fatal shooting during a 2018 robbery attempt was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, despite a motion by his defense attorney seeking a new trial.
Kyrone Haygood, 21, sat quietly as Judge Houry Sanderson shared her disappointment in seeing another young person take the wrong path in life.
He was convicted in February of shooting and killing Wenshil “Brandon” Saechao, 19, on Aug. 24, 2018 in what police said was a robbery that turned deadly. Haygood was 19 at the time of his arrest.
During trial prosecutor Elana Smith argued Haygood and accomplice Jaleen Hinton wanted to steal marijuana from the victim. But once Saechao realized some of the cash Haygood and Hinton gave him was phony, a scuffle ensued.
The prosecution said Haygood pulled out a gun and started shooting, killing Saechao and accidentally shooting Hinton in the back. The injury to Hinton, who was 17 at the time, left him a paraplegic.
Defense attorney Amanda Moran argued during trial that Haygood was not the shooter. She also said police and the prosecution built their case around him without a thorough investigation.
At his sentencing, several of Haygood’s family members wrote letters to the judge. In one of the letters, a younger sibling wrote about how she is going to miss Haygood’s smile and the snacks he would sneak her in the middle of the night. His mother, who has long said her son was not the shooter, told the judge she was heartbroken.
“Your mother’s pain resonated through her letter,” Judge Sanderson said. “It hurts to read her pain.”
The judge said she took no pleasure in sentencing a young person to life in prison. But the judge said there was an upside: “You are still living,” she told him. “Brandon Saechao is not.”
Prior to the sentencing, the judge heard arguments from Haygood’s defense attorney on her motion for a new trial. Moran alleged Smith’s case lacked enough evidence for a guilty verdict. Moran also accused one of the jurors of misconduct and said police conducted a shoddy investigation.
“There was a conviction,” Moran said. “But it wasn’t supported by the evidence. And at the end of the day a young man is convicted of a felony murder in a trial that was not fair.”
Smith defended her case, saying jurors got it right. “Yes, the jury had a lot of evidence to sift through to come up with this decision,” she said. “But we believe he had a fair trial.”
Sanderson agreed the jury may have had to sort through some conflicting testimony, but she said the trial was fair and she denied the motion for a new trial.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 7:08 AM.
