OAKLAND — After nearly 10 years spent inside an East Bay jail, a local resident has accepted a plea deal in a drive-by shooting death that police say was part of a string of gang killings.
Trevon Malik Collins, 28, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the November 2016 homicide of 55-year-old Dymetrie Shaw , who was shot inside a car on the 600 block of 32nd Street in Oakland. Collins was just 18 when police arrested him on suspicion of murder, and allegedly confessed almost immediately, but his case remained pending for the next decade, court records show.
Collins never even had a preliminary hearing. He pleaded not guilty and waited, delaying hearings that would have advanced his cases, then finally pleaded no contest in April, records show. He was sentenced on June 29 and finally, nine years and five months after his arrest, transferred to state prison on July 14.
Shaw’s killing was one of four homicides that occurred within a three-day span, which police believe all stemmed feud between rival Oakland gangs. A tipster later called police and implicated a rising West Oakland gang called the P-Team, whose members allegedly included Collins, in some of the shootings, according to court records.
It started on Nov. 25, 2016, when a 35-year-old Oakland resident, Alwyn Redd, was shot and killed in a car on the 600 block of 23rd Street. Police believe one of Redd’s relatives was the intended target.
Three days later, Deante Miller and Roderick Godfrey were shot and killed on the 700 block of 39th Street, which authorities believe was a retaliation for Redd’s killing. Later that day, Shaw was shot and killed on the 600 block of 32nd Street, near the Redd family house, according to court records.
Months before he was shot and killed, Godfrey, 19, had been a panelist in a discussion about gun violence that included then-Rep. Barbara Lee, who is now Oakland’s mayor.
Collins was arrested Dec. 7, 2016, in a car with two other people. Police say they found three guns in the vehicle, including a 9mm pistol equipped with a 50-round magazine. It was found in the backseat where Collins sat alone, and he later admitted to using the pistol in the drive-by shooting of Shaw, according to police.
Collins also allegedly named one of the other shooters as an Oakland man who was never charged, but police believe he was covering up for a third suspect, according to court records. A tipster who called police about the shootings gave investigators several names, including the identities of two persons of interest, Delay Graham and Derrick “Poopie” Walker, according to police.
Neither Graham nor Walker ever faced charges in the shootings, but the tip attracted the ire of police, leading to police surveillance, arrests, and federal gun charges. In the end, Graham was sentenced to six years in federal prison, while Walker received three years and four months. Both men pleaded guilty to gun possession and their attorneys argued that police trumped up the tipster’s unverified claims to go after them.
The shooting deaths of Redd, Godfrey, and Miller appear to remain unsolved; police never announced any arrests in any of them. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.