Crime & Safety
Hercules Man Among 2 Charged With Murder in Connection to Fatal Shooting, Burglary
Terrell Franklin, 27, of Richmond and 28-year-old Michael Pitre of Hercules told police they were being good Samaritans when they drove Reddrick to the hospital after he flagged them down.
Two men have been charged with murder and attempted murder for their involvement in a break-in that resulted in the fatal shooting of their accomplice and the injury shooting of a business owner in Richmond last week.
Terrell Franklin, 27, of Richmond and 28-year-old Michael Pitre of Hercules were both charged Tuesday with murder, attempted murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling and commercial burglary.
Franklin and Pitre were charged in connection with the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Pierre Reddrick of Richmond and with the shooting of a 71-year-old man during the burglary at his home and business, according to Contra Costa County prosecutor Mary Knox.
Prosecutors believe Franklin and Reddrick arrived at the back entrance of the residence and business in the 1300 block of Coalinga Avenue around 1 a.m. last Friday with the intention of burglarizing it. When the 71-year-old man saw the burglars entering the business, he shot Reddrick.
A short time later, Franklin allegedly retreated and shot the owner several times below the hip, according to Knox. Franklin then helped Reddrick into a waiting SUV allegedly driven by Pitre, who took them to nearby Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.
Police were waiting for the suspects at the hospital and arrested Franklin, Pitre, and a third suspect identified as 21-year-old Devonte Lewis, who was inside the car but was not linked to the burglary, Knox said.
The defendants told officers during the arrests that they were only good Samaritans who were flagged down by a wounded Reddrick and drove him to the hospital.
Reddrick succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. The business owner who was shot is recovering from his wounds and will require multiple surgeries, according to prosecutors.
The murder charges Franklin and Pitre face fall under the provocative act theory of murder in which "you have multiple defendants committing a crime together and the victim kills one of the defendants," Knox said.
Both defendants could face life in prison if convicted on all charges. Each of the defendants is being held in county jail in Martinez in lieu of $2.2 million bail.
—By Bay City News
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