Jury convicts defendant of first-degree murder for 2020 fatal shooting.
On November 12, 2021, a jury found defendant Danny Webb Jr. guilty of premeditated, first-degree murder of Justin Esco, 25.
The defendant was also found guilty of three additional counts of premeditated, attempted first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle causing great bodily injury or death, carrying a loaded weapon, and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He faces over 70 years to life in prison.
On April 17, 2020, Mr. Esco, and three other men drove together from Bakersfield to Oakland. At approximately 10:35 p.m., the defendant and seven other men surrounded the victim’s vehicle on 9700 block of Mountain Boulevard. The assailants were armed with assault weapons and semi-automatic handguns. The men fired multiple shots into the vehicle. One of the victims returned fire, striking the defendant in the chest. Mr. Esco died of multiple gunshot wounds. Another man was seriously injured but survived the shooting.
Webb was on parole for voluntary manslaughter for which he served nine years in state prison. The 2009 homicide took place in the city of Vallejo. A plea bargain resulted after two hung juries.
The current case was prosecuted by DDA Jimmie Wilson, with assistance from Victim Witness Advocate Scarlett Cervera, and DA Inspector Eric Karsseboom. Webb is expected to be sentenced on February 16, 2022.