ALAMEDA — A former Circle K clerk who shot a man in the head for trying to grab a pack of cigarettes has agreed to a 12-year prison term, court records show.
Wenyong Huang, 31, was originally charged with murdering 24-year-old Ethan Daniel Escorcio. After nearly five years behind bars, Huang has pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a 12-year prison term. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the murder charge.
Huang is set to be sentenced in May, records show. In the meantime, he remains jailed without bail.
At Huang’s change-of-plea hearing earlier this month, his lawyer said that he has always admitted to the shooting and has spent years trying to resolve the case. The attorney, Annie Beles, blamed turmoil at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office over the past five years, stating that one prosecutor who was handling the case years ago discussed offering Huang even less time behind bars.
“We’ve always been trying to take responsibility for this tragedy,” Beles said, adding that it was, “mass confusion and mass miscommunications during a very chaotic tỉme within the district attorney’s office that prevented Mr. Huang from taking responsibility for what happened back then.”
Police said at the time of the July 11, 2020 homicide that Escorcio went behind the counter of a Circle K where Huang worked and grabbed a pack of cigarettes from a casing. Huang, who reportedly recognized Escorcio as a repeat shoplifter, grabbed a pistol from his waistband and fired, hitting Escorcio in the head. Authorities said Huang pointed the gun at Escorcio’s neck, then fired after Escorcio stepped toward him.
At the time of the 2020 homicide, Escorcio’s mother said in an interview that what her son endured, “shouldn’t happen to anyone ever, not over a pack of cigarettes, not over an item.”
“You don’t deserve to die for that. Nobody does,” she said.
Police responded to a report of a robbery at the Circle K at 1716 Webster St., and found Escorcio dead there. They described Huang as “cooperative” and arrested him on suspicion of murder later that day, records show.