Stockton man sentenced for 2022 killing of woman at Modesto motel
MODESTO – A man has been sentenced to life in prison for the killing of a woman at a Best Western motel in Modesto in 2022, prosecutors announced on Saturday.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office announced Maurice Franklin Jr., a 34-year-old from Stockton, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in connection with the murder of 22-year-old Di'Asia Sease.
Housekeeping staff at a Best Western motel in Modesto found Sease unresponsive in a bathtub on July 20, 2022. Emergency personnel responded and discovered she was shot in the head, prosecutors said.
Detectives found images of a possible suspect during the murder investigation and later identified Franklin as a suspect.
While serving a search warrant at Franklin's home, detectives found some of Sease's belongings and several firearms. They also found cell phone records that placed him at the Best Western at the time of the murder, prosecutors said.
Cell phone records also uncovered a pattern of Franklin meeting human trafficking victims online and arranging to meet them in person, then exploiting their vulnerability, prosecutors said.
"Unfortunately, those discovered crimes went unreported and those victims - like many human trafficking victims - suffered in silence," the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office said. "Our office recognizes the danger that human trafficking victims face and the challenges that keep them trapped in the hands of people like Franklin."