Trial Begins For Man Accused In 2013 Sleepover Killing Of 8-Year-Old Oakland Girl
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A prosecutor Monday outlined his case against an Oakland man accused of killing an 8-year-old girl and 22-year-old man in separate shootings in 2013, saying he had a belief in street justice and retaliation that included "killing innocent and defenseless people, including women and children."
Darnell Williams, 25, is accused of the killings of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine during a sleepover at an East Oakland home on July 17, 2013, then 22-year-old Anthony Medearis in Berkeley in an unrelated shooting seven weeks later. Medearis was fatally shot in the 1400 block of Eighth Street in Berkeley on Sept. 8, 2013.
In his opening statement Monday morning in Williams' trial, prosecutor John Brouhard said, "You'll see the aftermath of this defendant's rampage."
Brouhard said the shooting at an apartment in the 3400 block of Wilson Street at about 11:15 p.m., which claimed Alaysha's life, wounded two other children and a 63-year-old woman, was 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.
Davis was a close friend of Williams, who allegedly wanted to kill Antiown York, the man he thought had killed Davis, and fired shots into the apartment on Wilson Street because York's ex-girlfriend, the mother of York's children, lived there, Brouhard said.
The mother wasn't home when Williams opened fire but the shots struck Alaysha, York's two young children and their grandmother, according to Brouhard.
Williams' case marks the first time in many years that the Alameda County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty.
The last time the office sought the death penalty was for David Mills, who was convicted of murdering three people in a shooting in 2005 and killing a fourth person in a separate case in 1997.
Mills was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in 2012.
In addition to two counts of murder for the deaths of Alaysha and Medearis, Williams is charged with three counts of attempted murder for the shooting on July 17, 2013.
Williams also faces three special circumstance allegations: committing multiple murders, lying in wait in the shooting that claimed Alaysha's life and killing Medearis during the course of an attempted robbery.
Williams' lawyer will present their opening statement later Monday.
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