Sentencing date reset for Vallejo gang member

Nickolas J. Howland, 24, has accepted a plea deal in two fatal shootings, is ordered to return to dock Jan. 6 in Fairfield

Sentencing proceedings were reset Thursday afternoon for a Vallejo gang member charged with killing two men, one in 2017, the other in 2018.

During a brief court appearance for the previously scheduled sentencing in Department 11, Nickolas James Howland, 24, pale and sullen-looking, heard Judge William J. Pendergast order him to return at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 6 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

As part of a plea deal with the Solano County District Attorney’s Office and Fairfield-based defense attorney Curtis Boyd, Howland will be sentenced to 18 years and four months in state prison, with credit for time served.

Court records show that on Oct. 28, Howland, scheduled for a Nov. 1 jury trial, waived his rights and pleaded to two counts of voluntary manslaughter; the use of a firearm during one of the killings; and two gang-related charges of street terrorism.

A rapper, Howland and another member of the 200 Westwood gang, which gets its name from a Vallejo neighborhood, are two of four gang members connected to several killings between 2017 and 2018 who have pleaded to charges connected to the crimes.

Court records show that Howland pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of DeMario Williams in September 2017 and the January 2018 murder of Coy Lacy Jr., 30, in Vallejo.

Also, a reputed member of the 200 Westwood gang, Damaria Tijaraye Haskins, 24, on Nov. 5 changed his not-guilty plea for the 2017 fatal shooting of Erik Green and the attempted murder of his brother, Eian.

It was unclear from online court documents what Haskins pleaded to and what his punishment will be when sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 12 in Department 11 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

Haskins, who was indicted in November 2018 by a Solano County grand jury for the murder and the attempted murder, was scheduled Oct. 29 to learn of his trial date; however, with the plea, he avoids a jury trial and the possibility of more than 40 years in prison if convicted.

Two other members of the 200 Westwood gang accused of shooting and killing two men are scheduled for further proceedings in their cases.

Steven Tezel Sanderson, 21, also charged with the murder of DeMario Williams and Coy Lacy Jr., was previously scheduled to face a jury trial Nov. 1. However, court records show he is facing a readiness conference and another trial setting at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 9 in Department 11. Sanderson is represented by criminal defense attorney John Coffer.

A fourth gang member, Desean Lamar Johnson, 25, also charged with the murder of Lacy, is scheduled to face a readiness conference and trial setting in the case at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 16 in Department 11. Johnson is represented by criminal defense attorney Tim A. Pori.

Alleged gang member Tiquon Ramon Hicks Jr., 25, convicted in January last year, was sentenced March 5, 2020, to more than 27 years in state prison for the second-degree murder of Williams and other charges.

Deputy District Attorney Eric Charm led the prosecution in the Hicks case and is the lead prosecutor in the scheduled sentencings and the two pending murder trials.

In December 2019, Pendergast agreed to sever all but one of the remaining pending trials, Howland and Sanderson’s.