Modesto man who beat young robbery victim with metal bat in Turlock park guilty of murder
A Modesto man, one of four defendants originally charged in the 2017 beating death of a young man in Turlock’s Donnelly Park, has been convicted of murder and multiple robberies, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office reported.
Shaun Mark Santos, 29, is set to be sentenced April 7 and faces life in prison, according to a news release.
On Dec. 4 of that year, Santos and three others who’d committed violent robberies the month prior went to Donnelly Park to find more victims. They approached Cameron Tracy, age 21, and his girlfriend.
The robbers brandished a replica gun and ordered the victims to strip and hand over all of their belongings. At some point, Santos got behind Tracy and repeatedly struck him in the back of the head with a metal bat.
Tracy’s girlfriend was able to escape and contact 911.
Santos and the other suspects stole Tracy’s Apple watch, car keys and cellphone before fleeing.
Tracy was taken to a hospital, where he died more than a week later.
The Turlock Police Department investigated, resulting in the capture of the four suspects, who detectives were able to connect to the previous violent robberies.
Another of the defendants pleaded guilty in January 2020 to a lesser charge, voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to six years in prison. “The resolution of the case against Terry Van Meter for voluntary manslaughter was … based on the fact that he was not the actual killer,” a deputy district attorney told The Bee at the time.
Van Meter, a Manteca resident, was 16 at the time of the attack on Tracy.
Van Meter, Santos and Modesto resident Lavinia Perez, then 38, were charged with murder and two counts of robbery for the attack on Tracy and his girlfriend, as well as with two other robberies at the park the week before. A 15-year-old from Modesto was also arrested.
The day Tracy was killed, he and his family were packing up to move to Utah four days later, according to Bee reporting of Van Meter’s conviction.
No information was immediately available last week from the DA’s Office on the status of Perez’s case or that of the 15-year-old charged in the crimes. The Bee in 2020 reported that the youngest defendant’s case would remain in juvenile court because he was under 16 at the time of the killing.
