Man found guilty in murder of ATM technician killed in Sacramento carjacking
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- A jury found Jimmy Washington guilty of first-degree murder and carjacking.
- Prosecutors said Washington carjacked James Nguyen, running him over with his own van.
- Nguyen, an ATM technician, was at a Sacramento Wells Fargo bank when he was carjacked.
A Sacramento County jury last week found a man guilty of murder in the death of an ATM technician who was carjacked four years ago outside a Wells Fargo bank branch and run over by his own van.
Along with the first-degree murder charge, Jimmy Washington, 40, was convicted of carjacking in the death of James Nguyen, according to a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
Washington’s conviction on Friday included enhancements for committing the murder during a carjacking and causing great bodily injury during the carjacking.
About 1 p.m. on June 17, 2021, Nguyen was fixing a drive-up ATM at the Wells Fargo branch on Stockton Boulevard between 65th Street and Florin Road in south Sacramento. His work van was parked a few feet away from him.
Washington had been at the bank to cash a check. Prosecutors said he carjacked the work van as Nguyen worked on the ATM.
Nguyen tried to stop the carjacking, prosecutors said, and dangled from the open driver’s window as Washington sped in the van through the parking lot.
Washington drove the van recklessly and nearly struck pedestrians and other vehicles, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Washington then either pushed Nguyen or drove in a manner that caused the ATM technician to fall from the van, before his vehicle ran over him as Washington drove away.
Sacramento County sheriff’s investigators searched for the carjacking suspect while reviewing security camera video and questioning witnesses, CBS 13 reported at the time.
Washington was taken into custody and booked four days after the carjacking at the Sacramento County Main Jail, where he has remained since then held without bail.
Prosecutors said Nguyen was hospitalized and remained in a vegetative state for nearly nine months before he succumbed to his injuries.
Washington is scheduled to return for his sentencing hearing Dec. 9 in Sacramento Superior Court. Prosecutors said Washington faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
