East Bay man who killed friend, gunned down cop now suspect in deadly prison yard attack

COALINGA — A 39-year-old man was murdered on the prison grounds here. The suspect is serving a life sentence for murdering his friend after he tried to kill a BART employee in 2015. He is a Costa County man, officials said.

Charles Getting, 34, allegedly used “convict-manufactured weapons” to kill Orange County native Richard Derderian. The attack occurred around 10:45 a.m. Friday at Pleasant Valley State Penitentiary, according to a news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Getting was a suspect in a gruesome murder in 2015. Shootout with police on Christmas Day of that year. It started when he shot dead 40-year-old Colin Anderson, though it’s not known exactly when or where the shooting occurred, and Gettingting trapped Anderson’s body in a rental moving truck, where it was On the way to bury Hayward, he stopped at a BART station.

There, BART officers Timothy Eads and Carlos Dazan came across the truck and told Getting they wanted to search it. That’s when Getting drew his pistol and started firing, hitting Ease in the arm before the officer returned fire and shot Getting several times. The incident was captured by a police officer’s body camera.

At a 2021 trial, Getting was found guilty of attempted murder of Eads, but a jury found him guilty of murder. The defense argued that Anderson and Getting were close friends, desperate to maintain a heroin habit, and that Getting shot Anderson in self-defense.

The legal victory was short-lived, with Getting ultimately not pleading guilty to murder and being sentenced to 35 years in prison for life.

Darderian had nearly completed a five-year sentence for his involvement in the incident. Southern California home invasion robbery Where over $200,000 was stolen.

Officials say the Fresno District Attorney will review the case and decide whether to press charges against Getting once the CDCR investigation is complete. Nor does it say whether it appears to do so.