A former University of Oregon football player who killed a man at Logan Heights was sentenced to 16 years in state prison on Friday.
Torrodney Prevot, 30, a recruit of football at the high school which became secondary at Oregon, was arrested for August 22, 2022, killing Devin Payton, a resident of Chula Vista of 30 years.
Police said Prevot and his parent argued with Payton that morning in an Imperial Avenue car park.
At one point, Prevot went to his car, recovered a gun and shot Payton in the chest. Prevot and his parent then fled. The police found the victim injured just before 3 am, Payton died in a hospital about half an hour later.
Prevot was initially accused of murder but pleaded guilty earlier this year for a voluntary homicide and an allegation of firearms, a stipulation of the sentence of 16 years in prison.
The district prosecutor, Melissa Mack, said that murder was an “entirely tragic and horrible incident” in which everything that happened between Prevot and Payton had concluded, but “Mr. Prevot has decided to re -engage ”.
During a long statement during his conviction on Friday, Prevot said: “I never wanted Devin to die” and “I fully regret attracting this relaxation and taking the life of Devin that night.”
But Prevot described what happened as “an extremely insulated event” and said that he was not “a malicious person”.
Payton has left his parents, four brothers and sisters and many other family members, of which, of which about two dozen have attended the sentence determination. Among those who spoke were Payton’s mother, Tracie Brown, who said that his son had “great dreams” and was a passionate musical amateur who created his own musical works.
“People naturally have gravity towards him because he made them feel seen and heard,” she said.
Prevot played for Ducks from 2013 to 2015.
In 2016, just before his last year, Prevot was suspended by the team and later by the university after a woman accused her of having assaulted her. Prevot’s defense lawyer in the homicide case Troy Owens said prevot had never been arrested or charged in the allegations and that his accuser then retracted his allegations.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
