Tag Archives: Homicide in Berkeley
Police release suspect info from Grizzly Peak homicide
Police have released a description of the man believed to be responsible for a shooting early Sunday morning that left a Fremont student dead outside a car on Grizzly Peak Boulevard.
This week, the University of California Police Department identified 21-year-old Alverto Santana-Silva of Fremont as the victim. Police believe Santana-Silva was shot after he tried to break up an argument or disturbance between two groups of strangers. … Continue reading »
Police investigate homicide on Grizzly Peak Boulevard
Update, 6:10 p.m. Lt. Alex Yao of the University of California Police Department said Grizzly Peak Boulevard has been re-opened to traffic. The victim has been identified as an adult male who was not affiliated with UC Berkeley. The Alameda County coroner’s office said information about the victim’s identity would need to come from police. Further details were not available Sunday night.
Original post, 2:53 p.m. Police are investigating the death of one person who was reportedly shot early Sunday morning on Grizzly Peak Boulevard between Centennial Drive and South Park Drive.
Earlier Sunday, the road was closed to through traffic as police continued their investigation and, as of about 2:40 p.m. it remained closed, police said. … Continue reading »
Berkeley community remembers teen slain in Oakland
[Editor's Note: Olajuwon Clayborn's funeral will be held Friday, May 17, at 11 a.m. at Missionary Church of God in Christ, 1125 Allston Way, in Berkeley.]
Students and teachers in one of Berkeley High’s small schools were left reeling this week after a former member of their cohort was shot and killed in East Oakland over the weekend.
Those who knew Olajuwon Clayborn, 17, described him as a sweet, quiet guy, a well-dressed ladies man who was passionate about basketball, and a dedicated student despite struggles in the classroom. Clayborn attended Berkeley schools from pre-school through 11th grade; he transfered to Castlemont High School in Oakland last fall for his senior year.
“If he loved you, he loved you to death,” said best friend Lonnie Brewer, 18, a Berkeley High senior in the school’s Communication Arts & Science (CAS) program. ”He had your back. If I had an argument on the court, he’d be right there.” … Continue reading »
Defendant in 2012 murder found mentally unfit for trial
A man charged with shooting a Berkeley man to death in 2012, and later getting into a shootout with Berkeley Police officers, has been deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial at this time by a Superior Court judge in Oakland, according to court documents.
Calvester Houston Stewart, 20, of Berkeley was arrested in April 2012 after he reportedly exchanged gunfire with police following a routine traffic stop in West Berkeley. Police said Stewart opened fire on multiple officers after he ran into a Delaware Street apartment building when police tried to stop him. Stewart was shot multiple times during the incident. … Continue reading »
Police arrest Oakland woman in Berkeley homicide
Update, March 4, 3:35 p.m. Berkeleyside has removed the name of the woman who was arrested because of the decision to release her without charging her last week.
Update, Feb. 27, 10:50 p.m. According to the Alameda County district attorney’s office, the woman was released Tuesday by the Berkeley Police Department under Penal Code section 849(b). Charges were not filed Wednesday and she did not appear in court. She had been arrested Monday on a Ramey warrant. No further information was available from authorities.
Original post, Feb. 26, 4:43 p.m. The Berkeley Police Department has arrested an Oakland woman on suspicion of homicide, but details from authorities otherwise remain scant.
Police arrested the 21-year-old woman on Monday on a warrant related to a Berkeley homicide, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
Berkeley Police spokeswoman Jennifer Coats said Tuesday afternoon that the department cannot release information about which homicide the woman is connected with so as not to jeopardize the department’s on-going investigation.
Investigators continue to follow up on leads related to the case, she said.
The woman is being held without bail at the Berkeley Jail and is scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland. … Continue reading »
Police make arrests related to 2 Berkeley homicides
The Berkeley Police Department has confirmed that an arrest has been made following the fatal shooting of Zontee Jones on Feb. 4.
Details, however, were scant. Police declined to provide information about the arrest, such as the identity of the person who was arrested, or what the arrest was for.
“I can’t release anything other than (that) an arrest was made,” said officer Stephanie Polizziani, a police spokeswoman, via email. “To maintain the integrity of their investigation, I can’t release any other details at this point.” … Continue reading »
One year on, still no arrest in shooting of Kenny Warren
More than a year after the fatal shooting of Kenneth Warren Jr., bullet holes still riddle the front wall of the Berkeley home where he was ambushed after he left his uncle’s barbershop to watch a basketball game at the home of a friend.
Warren was gunned down in a rain of bullets by unknown assailants who were believed to have been lying in wait for him to emerge from the Shattuck Avenue shop, just south of Emerson Street near Ashby Avenue. Witnesses said the father of five was shot while he knocked on a friend’s door, and that the killers unleashed more than 80 bullets during the murder. They started from a distance, then walked up to Warren’s collapsed body and discharged the last of the ammunition into him at close range.
The January 2012 murder of the 35-year-old family man remains unsolved, despite a $15,000 reward offered by the Berkeley Police Department for information leading to the arrest and conviction of his killer. Bay Area Crime Stoppers has offered an additional $2,000 in connection with the case.
This year, on the anniversary of his death, on Jan. 26, roughly 60 people came together at Shattuck and Emerson Street to remember him. Family members and childhood friends held hands, shared memories, lit candles and prayed, and one of Warren’s uncles sang several songs for those who had gathered. … Continue reading »
Police name Zontee Jones as year’s first homicide
Police have released the name of Berkeley’s first homicide victim of 2013, identifying him late Wednesday afternoon as Zontee Jones, 34, of Berkeley.
Jones was killed shortly after 11 a.m. Monday on Delaware Street just west of San Pablo Avenue in west Berkeley. Witnesses said he was shot while walking down the street, and that a gold-colored car that may have been connected to the crime sped off afterward.
Capt. Andrew Greenwood of the Berkeley Police Department said investigators have been working on this case “virtually non-stop since Monday morning when it occurred.” … Continue reading »
Psych review delayed for man charged in murder
A man charged with the murder of Devin Lee Whitmire last year, and the attempted murder of Berkeley officers after a shootout with police, is set to appear before a judge later this month for a mental competency hearing.
Calvester Stewart, 20, of Berkeley was scheduled for the hearing Wednesday morning, Feb. 6, at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland. But Judge Carrie McIntyre Panetta told the court that one of two doctors set to review Stewart’s state of mind had asked for more time to turn in the report. … Continue reading »
Man shot dead in Berkeley, first homicide of 2013
By Lance Knobel and Emilie Raguso
Update, Feb. 5: The name of the victim of the Feb. 4 fatal shooting on Delaware Street has not been released by authorities, but in an article in the Oakland Tribune he was identified as 34-year-old Zontee Jones. Jones’ girlfriend, Teena Alexander, told reporter Doug Oakley that the slain man lived in Berkeley and Richmond, and worked as a maintenance man at her apartment building on Delaware.
Update 4:29 p.m. Police have released a statement indicating that the victim suffered from multiple gunshot wounds. He was 34. His name has not been released by police “out of respect for those family or friends that still need to be notified of his passing.”
Police ask witnesses with information about this incident to call the department’s homicide detail at 510-981-5741, or the department’s non-emergency number, 510-981-5900. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can call the Bay Area Crimes Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477). … Continue reading »
Relatives remember slain Berkeley woman
The young Berkeley woman who was stabbed to death in East Oakland at the end of December loved cooking, dancing and styling hair.
Jennifer “Jessica” Kingeter grew up in Berkeley and Albany, dancing for 12 seasons in The Nutcracker at the Julia Morgan Theater on College Avenue, swimming in Lake Anza over the summer, and helping her mother with a radio show about dancing on KPFA, according to her father, in a comment on Berkeleyside.
The 26-year-old was known for her toothy smile and her warm demeanor.
“She was just a sweet girl. She was always laughing, always had that big smile,” said cousin Cindy Burgos of Georgia. … Continue reading »
New details emerge in stabbing of Berkeley woman
The five-time felon charged in the stabbing death of Jennifer “Jessica” Kingeter was found at the scene of her killing naked and covered in blood with a knife nearby, according to authorities.
Last week, police arrested Jamaal Prince, 34, of Berkeley in Kingeter’s death. He was charged Monday, Dec. 31, with murder, and is set to appear in court to enter a plea this coming Monday.
According to court documents, police found Prince “at the scene of a homicide naked, covered in blood in close proximity to a bloody knife.” Police said Prince was treated at Highland Hospital for several cuts to his hands, and was then “cleared for incarceration.”
Police said, in the declaration of probable cause for Prince’s arrest, that he waived his rights during the police interview, and “confessed to stabbing the victim multiple times.” … Continue reading »
Five-time felon charged with murder of Berkeley woman
A 34-year-old Berkeley man who was on parole for a 2010 assault on his mother has been charged with the stabbing death on Friday of a Berkeley woman in her 20s, according to authorities and media reports.
Jamaal Anthony Prince was arraigned Monday, and charged with killing 26-year-old Jennifer Kingeter early Friday in an East Oakland apartment, according to the Oakland Tribune. Police told the Tribune she was a ballet student. … Continue reading »
