Third and final defendant in 2013 fatal Turlock shooting abruptly makes a plea deal
The third and final suspect in a fatal 2013 shooting entered entered a plea agreement in the case the day he was scheduled to go to trial, according to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
Pardeep Singh, 29, of Modesto, pleaded no contest to the second degree murder of 21-year-old Amritpal Sandhu.
According to a press release from the DA’s office, at the time of the murder Singh was upset after hearing rumors Sandhu had been talking about his family in a disrespectful way.
Sandhu and one of his friends had been in an ongoing dispute with Singh for at least a year prior to the shooting, according to testimony from the friend during a 2016 preliminary hearing.
On Nov. 5, 2013, Singh and co-defendant, Kultar Singh Dhatt, drove to Sandhu’s house in Turlock where they waited for him to leave, then followed as he he drove away and got onto Highway 99.
On the highway, Dhatt began shooting at the victim’s vehicle, according to the press release.
Sandhu, unharmed at that point, called 911 and told the dispatcher he was following the suspects’ vehicle. The dispatcher told him not to follow them, that it was dangerous, but Sandhu followed anyway as they exited the freeway at Monte Vista Avenue.
The suspects drove into a residential neighborhood, where Dhatt called his roommate, co-defendant Cole Nathaniel Millington, and told him to stand on the corner near their apartment and shoot at the victim when he drove by, according to the press release.
As Singh stopped at a stop sign, Millington walked up to Sandhu’s vehicle and fired multiple rounds from a .40 caliber pistol, killing him, according to the press release.
All three suspects were arrested and charged with murder.
Last year Millington and Dhatt pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. Millington was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Dhatt to 21 years.
Based on his original charges of first degree murder, with special circumstances allegations of lying in wait and shooting from a vehicle, Singh was facing life in prison without the possibility of parole. But in March he pleaded no contest to second degree murder and last month was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, according to the press release.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
