A homeless man was sentenced Monday, Aug. 17 to 100 years to life in state prison for gunning down another homeless man in a case of mistaken identity in North Long Beach last year, authorities said.
In late July, a jury convicted Freddie Lamont Key Jr., 41, for the October 2025 fatal shooting of 39-year-old Dajuan Hunt in an encampment along train tracks in the 5300 block of Cherry Avenue, according to police and court records.
Hunt was shot once in the chest and died at a hospital, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office.
Witnesses testified during a preliminary hearing in March that it was dark and said they couldn’t see who fired, though one told detectives they recognized Key’s voice asking, “Who’s that?” in reference to Hunt before the shot, Long Beach police Detective Jared Asato testified.
The detective said one witness told detectives that after the shot was fired, she heard Key say, “My bad,” and that he thought it was someone else walking toward him in the encampment, according to a transcript from the preliminary hearing. Key then ran away.
It was unclear why he would have shot the other person.
Hunt walked into the encampment with two women. The three had planned to go to a friend’s house for dinner, one of the women testified during the March hearing.