Jury convicts Pratcher of first-degree murder

Oakland Tribune, Oct 11, 2006 by Bruce Gerstman, Media News

MARTINEZ - A jury today convicted Darren Pratcher of first- degree murder in the 2004 shooting death of former De La Salle football standout Terrance Kelly.

Pratcher, 17, faces up to 50 to life in state prison.

When the verdict was read, Pratcher head fell toward the desk in front of him and he interlocked his fingers behind his neck. His hands shook.

Kelly's relatives and friends nodded their heads in agreement.

Pratcher shot Kelly, 18, on Aug. 12, 2004 in Richmond days before Kelly was to start at the University of Oregon on a football scholarship.

At trial, deputy district attorney David Brown said Pratcher targeted Kelly because he held an animosity against him and because Kelly lived outside of the central Richmond neighborhood where Pratcher lived.

Deputy public defender Jonathan Laba argued that his client shot Kelly because he mistook him for another man. Pratcher shot a teenage girl with a BB gun earlier in the day and believed the girl's father had made threats against his life.

A psychologist who testified for the defense said Pratcher was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the shooting, which he had developed growing up in violent neighborhoods of Oakland and Richmond.

Reach Bruce Gerstman at 925-952-2670 or bgerstman@cctimes.com.