Santa Rita murder case testimony raises questions about safety at county’s lone adult jail

DUBLIN — Two men had spent less than a day in their Santa Rita Jail cell together before one of them allegedly strangled the other to death during a fight that the man one cell over claimed lasted for at least a half-hour, according to testimony at a recent preliminary hearing.

Police testimony at the Jan. 31 preliminary hearing for 32-year-old Emil Cochran was enough to convince a judge there’s enough evidence that Cochran killed 27-year-old Devin Darnell West — a fairly simple task for prosecutors, as both men were reportedly alone in the same cell together when West was slain. But the deputies who investigated the killing couldn’t answer key questions, like who checked on the suspect and victim last before West’s death, when that check-in occurred, or why the two men were housed together in the first place.

Then there’s a statement allegedly made to police by the man who lived one cell over from Cochran and West when the homicide occurred. He reportedly told investigators that he heard loud evidence of a fight — including “hooting and hollering” — for at least a half hour before West was killed. The deputy who discovered West’s body said that staff was required to walk along the tiers and check each cell every 30 minutes, but when asked when the previous walk-through occurred or who conducted it, he said he didn’t know.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment this week.

Cochran allegedly killed West on the early morning of Nov. 15, 2021, in a part of Santa Rita Jail used to house inmates with mental illness. Multiple deputies who testified at the preliminary hearing described West as “aggressive.” Among cops, he was known to make threats. One inmate on the module said West was known for being “hyphy” during out-of-cell time and would spit or bang on other inmates’ doors, according to police testimony.

The inmate who heard the fighting also admitted he didn’t alert deputies by using an intercom inside his cell. He also shared his belief that deputies were deliberately creating “chaos” by housing people together who they knew wouldn’t get along.

Cochran was in jail for an alleged parole violation and West was serving a brief sentence for auto burglary, according to court records. When deputies discovered the homicide, Cochran was on top of West, who was motionless and didn’t have a pulse, Deputy Michael Teves, who discovered West’s body, testified.

West died of manual strangulation, according to court records.

When Cochran was being escorted to a single-person cell, he reportedly made several statements indicating it was self-defense, including “I’m diffusing a threat,” and “I’m in fear for my life in there.” The man one cell over, though, allegedly told police that he heard Cochran yell taunts like “f— you,” and “who’s bigger now,” after the killing.

Cochran’s lawyer argued the killing was either lawful or imperfect self-defense, and argued prosecutors hadn’t proved a murder. Judge Mark McCannon was unmoved, saying that the basic facts of the case — two men enter a cell together and only one came out alive — was sufficient enough to advance the murder charge past the preliminary hearing.

Santa Rita is the county’s only adult jail facility and has been the subject of plenty of controversy over the years, mostly involving jail deaths or the treatment of mentally ill inmates. A 2022 federal consent decree requires the county to expand mental health services at the jail, though county leaders and advocates have strong disagreements on how to make that happen.

In 2021, two Alameda County deputies were sentenced to prison for abusing incarcerated men in the jail, including by directing them to fight and throw urine and feces on each other.