Man convicted of murdering Sacramento casino security guard during 2022 robbery, shooting
A man who shot and killed a Capitol Casino security guard while stealing more than $38,000 from the establishment last year was convicted Monday of robbery and first-degree murder, prosecutors said.
A Sacramento Superior Court jury found Dawan Pecot, 38, guilty of first-degree murder with an allegation of using a personal firearm causing death and a special circumstances of murdering a person while committing robbery. He was also found guilty of second-degree robbery with the allegations of personally using a firearm and intentionally discharging a firearm.
In August 2022, security guard Sean Bernal caught Pecot trying to rob the card room on North 16th Street in Sacramento’s River District, a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said. Bernal caught Pecot and walked him out while pointing a Taser at him, prosecutors said.
But Pecot went back inside the casino and pointed a firearm at a casino employee inside a cash cage, prosecutors said. Bernal attempted to deploy his Taser at Pecot, and that’s when the defendant shot Bernal in the neck, killing him, the news release said.
Pecot stole more than $38,000 and hid in his car, prosecutors said. He jumped out of the vehicle when police arrived and fired one more shot toward a casino employee, the news release said. Sacramento police officers then arrested him.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for Jan. 12.
