Court dates reset for inmate charged with murder, attempted murder
Derek E. Dunlap Jr., is accused of killing a Fairfield transient and attempted murder of a female County Jail guard
A Solano County Jail inmate awaiting trial on a separate 2018 murder charge and later charged for a February 2020 attempted murder of a female guard will return to court in the coming months for trial settings in both cases.
Following proceedings scheduled Monday in Department 15, Solano County Superior Court Judge Robert Bowers vacated an April 1 jury trial for the attempted murder charge and the March 8 trial setting for the murder charge levied against Derek Edward Dunlap Jr., 29.
The judge ordered the defendant to return for a trial readiness conference, a motion, and the trial setting in the murder case at 1:30 p.m. May 3 and a readiness conference and trial setting on the attempted murder charge also at 1:30 p.m. May 3 in the Justice Building in Vallejo.
Dunlap is accused of attempted premeditated murder of a custodial officer, felony assault upon a custodial officer, and resisting, obstructing and delaying a peace officer during the Feb. 8 attack at the Stanton Correctional Facility on Clay Bank Road in Fairfield.
According to court records from a preliminary hearing, Dunlap on that day was out of his cell pretending to use the phones in the middle of the jail module. He allegedly laid in wait for the jail guard, described as petite, to pass under the stairs that separated the phones from the cells.
Once her back was turned, Dunlap ran directly at her and grabbed her throat before she could see him coming. The defendant got the officer in a choke hold from behind and attempted to choke her. However, another custodial officer heard the commotion from upstairs and came running to help her. Using a baton, he was able to get Dunlap to release her.
Dunlap then began to assault that officer. Other correctional officers came running to render help and were able to subdue the defendant.
Further testimony from the hearing showed Dunlap was wearing a pair of shoes that he usually did not wear, according to a press release issued by Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams. Such shoes are typically worn when intended to fight. The defendant was also found to have a makeshift “body armor and jock strap” covering his genitals. According to the correctional officers, Abrams noted in the release, these are used when an inmate seeks to protect himself from harm during a fight.
Dunlap allegedly was heard by a number of officers to say, “You were lucky you were there. You saved her life,” and “You’re lucky you saved her this time.”
Detective Christopher Cavazos investigated the case, and Senior Deputy District Attorney Julie Underwood leads the prosecution. Fairfield criminal defense attorney Sal Giambona represents Dunlap.
If convicted at trial on the charges, Dunlap could face as much as 30 years to life, separate from his pending murder charges.
In the murder case, Dunlap was a Fairfield transient at the time he fatally stabbed a fellow transient in 2018 in Fairfield and was later confined for a time to a state hospital after legal proceedings last year.
Judge Bowers’ decision on July 23 came after a mental health placement review and an order to show cause.
It also came after Bowers on Jan. 14, 2020, committed Dunlap to the Department of State Hospitals for a maximum term of life.
Court records indicate Giambona, at one point in 2019, had doubted his client’s ability to understand court proceedings and requested a report under the mental competency statute.
Referred to MHM Services Inc. in Vallejo, Dunlap earlier had faced a mental competency evaluation. A doctor had apparently deemed him competent to stand trial, according to court records.
Court records available online indicated Bowers certified Dunlap’s mental competency on Oct. 26 last year and, on Nov. 2, criminal proceedings were reinstated.
In the murder case, Dunlap faces one count of firstdegree murder with malice aforethought, with a special allegation of torture, an enhancement that could, if he is convicted, result in the death penalty or a prison sentence of life without a chance of parole. Dunlap also faces one charge of brandishing a deadly weapon in a threatening manner.
He is accused of killing 28-year-old Alexander Lind of Benicia, whose body was found on the morning of Feb. 20, 2018, in the 1200 block of Empire Street in Fairfield. Police say Lind was stabbed several times during a dispute.
According to police, Dunlap and Lind knew one another. Dunlap was arrested without incident on Feb. 21 after a bystander recognized him from a suspect photograph posted by the Fairfield Police Department.
Discussions during Dunlap’s first court date revealed he had a previous conviction out of Santa Cruz County.
District Attorney Krishna Abrams leads the prosecution in the murder case.