Crime & Safety

3 Charged in Killings of Berkeley Man, 8-year-old Oakland Girl

Two men and a woman have been charged with murder in connection with the Sept. 8 killing of a Berkeley man and the July 17 killing of an Oakland girl. The girl's slaying was linked to a another Berkeley homicide on July 17, police said.

By Jeff Shuttleworth, Bay City News Service

The shooting death of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine in East Oakland in July was the result of a gang feud that goes back many years, authorities said today in announcing the arrest of two felons in connection with her death.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley alleged that reputed gang member Darnell Williams, a 22-year-old Oakland man, fired multiple shots into an apartment in the 3400 block of Wilson Street at about 11:15 p.m. on July 17 in retaliation for the shooting death of 26-year-old Jermaine Davis in the 1800 block of Derby Street in Berkeley about four hours earlier, at 6:52 p.m.

Oakland police officer Robert Rosin said in a probable cause statement that Williams was "a close friend" of Davis and "later admitted to witnesses that he committed the shooting."

O'Malley didn't disclose the name of the man Williams allegedly was trying to kill but said that Williams and his associates believed he was at the apartment where Alaysha and her friends were having a sleepover party.

O'Malley said Williams and another man, 27-year-old Joseph Carroll of Oakland, rang the door bell to the Wilson Street apartment and after Alaysha opened the door Williams "opened fire without any consideration of who was at the door and with complete disregard for human life."

She alleged that bullets fired by Williams killed Alaysha, who opened the door, and injured three other people: Alaysha's friend, 7-year-old Amanda York, Amanda's brother, 4-year-old Antoine York, and their 63-year-old grandmother, Clara Fields.

Speaking at a news conference at Oakland police headquarters, O'Malley said Williams and Carroll have been charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder for the shooting.

O'Malley said Carroll is charged with murder because authorities believe he planned the shooting.

O'Malley didn't disclose which gang Williams reputedly is associated with.

No one has been arrested for the death of Davis, who was fatally shot only five days after four reputed members of the North Side Oakland gang were sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting death of his brother, 25-year-old Charles Davis, in the vicinity of Allston Way and 10th Street in West Berkeley at about 6:30 p.m. on May 16, 2009, and a subsequent car chase that killed two people in Oakland shortly afterward.

Prosecutor Steve Dal Porto alleged at the trial for the four defendants that they were looking for Jermaine Davis to retaliate for the deaths of three North Side Oakland gang members but when they couldn't find him they instead shot Charles Davis.

Dal Porto said Jermaine Davis belonged to a rival gang but Charles Davis was a college student who wasn't affiliated with a gang. Jermaine Davis was present in court for the sentencing of the four suspects on July 12.

Dal Porto said the North Side Oakland gang and the rival gang had a rivalry that started because of a dispute over a stolen tire rim in 2002.

O'Malley said Williams also is charged with murder for allegedly fatally shooting 22-year-old Anthony Medearis in the 1400 block of Eighth Street in Berkeley at about 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 8, about seven weeks after Alaysha was killed.

O'Malley said Williams and Medearis had been friends but for some reason Williams decided to rob and kill Medearis.

Berkeley police Officer Shan Johnson said in a probable cause statement that the shooting occurred at a dice game to which Williams brought his 7-year-old nephew.

Johnson said Williams fired multiple shots at Medearis and a bullet fragment also struck his 7-year-old nephew in the face. Williams is charged with assault with a semi-automatic firearm for shooting his nephew.

Laquana Nuno, 28, is also charged with murder for Medearis' death.

O'Malley didn't disclose Nuno's role in the killing but Johnson said in his statement that Williams advised her in a text message that he was about to commit a robbery and she agreed to pick him up afterward. Johnson said Nuno then picked Williams up after the shooting and evaded police for a short time when they tried to stop her vehicle.

Williams later fled on foot when Nuno pulled over but officers were able to find and arrest him in a nearby shed, Johnson said.

O'Malley said Carroll and three other men also are charged with conspiracy to commit murder for making several attempts to kill two men they believed had "disrespected" Carroll and his brother, Coleon Carroll.

The attempts to kill the two alleged potential victims occurred on Sept. 13 and Sept. 20, according to a probable cause statement by Oakland police Officer Eric Karsseboom.

However, Oakland police officers and special agents from the California Department of Justice set up surveillance teams at the locations where the shootings allegedly were supposed to occur and were able to prevent harm to the potential victims, Karsseboom said.

Coleon Carroll, 23, and another man, were ordered at a preliminary hearing earlier this year to stand trial on murder and attempted murder charges for a shooting near a Berkeley barbershop at 8:45 a.m. Oct. 26, 2010, that left 35-year-old Gary Ferguson of Oakland dead and a second man seriously injured.

The three other men charged with conspiracy to commit murder are Joseph Corkey Connors, Emando Roos and Travon Wilson.

Prosecutors allege that Williams has a prior conviction for assault with a semi-automatic firearm on Jan. 27, 2010.

They also allege that Joseph Carroll, who was arrested in Harris County in Texas over the weekend, has two prior convictions: one for possession of a firearm by a felon on Jan. 14 of this year and one for evading an officer on Sept. 24, 2007.

Williams faces three special circumstance murder allegations that potentially could result in the death penalty if he's convicted: committing multiple murders, lying in wait in the fatal shooting of Alaysha and attempting to commit a robbery during the course of murdering Medearis.

Prosecutors also allege that Connors, Roos and Wilson also have prior felony convictions.

Published by Berkeley Patch Oct. 1, 2013, 11:45 a.m., updated 6:44 p.m.

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. – Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


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