DUBLIN — Eyewitnesses took the stand and revealed the motive behind a 2023 fatal beating and strangulation on the Union City railroad tracks, allegedly committed by a man who was attempting to evict the victim from a homeless encampment.
Brandon Kong, 49, is due in court next month to enter a plea on charges of murdering Jason Deleon on March 11, 2023. In an April preliminary hearing, a judge reviewed prosecution evidence and ordered Kong to stand trial, despite a defense attempt to lower the charges from murder to manslaughter.
The main witnesses were residents of the encampment, who described Kong as a friend and Deleon as an unwelcome guest at the Union City encampment along railroad tracks between 33375 Central Ave. and 33390 Transit Ave. A woman there accused Deleon of stealing from her and told him to leave, and when he refused, Kong stepped in to force the issue, she testified.
But Kong took it too far, the witnesses said, and they began urging him to end the attack.
“I was watching them and telling them to stop it because he’s just not worth it, you know?” one man who lived at the encampment testified. “They were on the ground and then Brandon got him, like, on the choke where Jason could not move.”
Witnesses and police say that Kong beat Deleon with a frying pan and then choked him. The woman whose accusation started the conflict said that she heard Deleon screaming for help and Kong dragged him away down the railroad tracks.
“He was like, screaming and asking for help because he was still alive, and then suddenly I heard it stopped,” she said, adding that Kong returned with blood on his pants, and with the pocketknife that the woman had accused Deleon of stealing.
Kong’s lawyer argued for manslaughter, saying that it was likely Kong inadvertently strangled Deleon while placing him in a chokehold, cutting off his carotid artery, and didn’t realize that he was inflicting mortal injuries. Alameda County Judge Amy Sekany rejected this argument and held Kong to answer on the murder charge.
Kong’s arraignment has been postponed several times since the preliminary hearing, and is now set for Sept. 19. He remains jailed without bail in the meantime.