{"id":338120,"date":"2026-05-29T21:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/338120\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T21:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:29:10","slug":"berkeley-shelter-murder-suspect-made-racist-threats-witness-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/338120\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley shelter murder suspect made racist threats, witness says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Marcel Dupree Jones, 37, was fatally shot in 2024 at the Ursula Sherman Village shelter, where he lived with the man accused of killing him. That man, Mark Christopher Dowling, 63, has been held to answer on a murder charge in the killing. Credit: GoFundMe<\/a><\/p>\n

The man accused of the racially motivated murder of his roommate in a Berkeley shelter got into tense arguments with other Black shelter residents and threatened to shoot them before the 2024 killing<\/a>, according to another roommate who witnessed it.<\/p>\n

Mark Christopher Dowling, 63, was held to answer on a charge of murdering 37-year-old Marcel Dupree Jones, as well as a special allegation that the murder was a hate crime<\/a>, following a preliminary hearing Thursday. Testimony from Dowling and Jones\u2019 fellow shelter residents offered new insight into what had happened between the two men in the days leading up to the Aug. 25, 2024, killing. Dowling has pleaded not guilty to the charge.<\/p>\n

Antoine Rufus, who witnessed the shooting, remembered Jones as a \u201cfunny, bright, kind of optimistic dude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rufus had shared a dorm with Dowling, Jones and others at Ursula Sherman Village, also known as Harrison House, at 711 Harrison St. Jones and Rufus had some disagreements over politics, but \u201cI had a lot of respect for him because he was going to school so that he could take care of his children,\u201d Rufus said. \u201cHe really wanted to get his life back on track.\u201d At the time he was killed Jones was a week away from graduating from a pre-apprenticeship program<\/a> through an Oakland-based nonprofit, hoping to find work in construction.<\/p>\n

Rufus testified about several incidents where Dowling, who is white, threatened Black shelter residents.<\/p>\n

In one, Rufus testified, a Black resident threatened to slap Dowling after he said he had hired a \u201cBlack whore.\u201d According to Rufus, Dowling responded, \u201cIf you try to slap me or you do slap me, I will put a bullet in your ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another confrontation was between Dowling and Rufus himself. Dowling had pushed a bed towards Rufus while sweeping up food debris. Rufus, who is Black, testified that he had told Dowling, \u201cN\u2014a don\u2019t do that.\u201d Dowling, he said, responded with \u201cI\u2019m not your n\u2014r.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got kind of heated and I proceeded to chase [Dowling] around,\u201d Rufus testified Thursday, and Dowling threatened \u201cto shoot me if I were to lay hands on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

An argument over Tupac, then a fight, then a homicide<\/p>\n

The day of the killing, Jones and Dowling had gotten into a physical fight, and Jones discussed it with Rufus in a computer room near the dorm room where they all slept.<\/p>\n

Rufus said he was told Jones had put on some Tupac, which Dowling did not like. Dowling said \u201csomething racially charged\u201d to Jones, who then \u201cbeat him up pretty bad,\u201d Rufus testified.<\/p>\n

Having heard Dowling already threaten to shoot several people, Rufus warned Jones \u201cthat it was possible that he\u2019d shoot him,\u201d but Jones brushed it off, Rufus testified. Jones \u201ctold me that he\u2019s from the streets and he\u2019s not really worried about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Marcel Dupree Jones was living at the Ursula Sherman Village, also known as Harrison House, when he was killed in 2024.<\/p>\n

While they were having this conversation, Rufus said he could see Dowling leave the shelter briefly, then come back inside about two minutes later, heading for the dorm where they all slept.<\/p>\n

Surveillance video from a nearby building shows Dowling appear to retrieve something from a car at 5:22 p.m. the day of the killing. Dowling had gone outside to get a gun from his car, according to a civil complaint from some of Jones\u2019s relatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Jones and Rufus went back to their dorm, they found Jones\u2019 belongings \u201cstrewn all over the place,\u201d Rufus testified. Suspecting Dowling had made the mess, Jones asked Dowling \u201cwhether or not he wanted to go for round two,\u201d Rufus said.<\/p>\n

Dowling, who was on his bunk, then reached to his side, whispered something to Jones that Rufus could not hear, pulled a gun and shot Jones, firing three times, Rufus testified. Rufus bolted, but said he heard another volley of gunshots as he fled, and then a third after that. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

Maurice Boyce, who was also living at Ursula Sherman Village at the time, said when he heard the gunshots, he thought they were firecrackers. Boyce testified that he was on his bunk in another dorm room nearby, engrossed with his phone, when Dowling suddenly appeared, clambered over Boyce\u2019s body and climbed out an open window next to Boyce\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n

Dowling\u2019s foot caught on something as he was going out the window, so Boyce helped him get his foot loose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI still didn\u2019t realize what the hell was going on,\u201d Boyce said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Berkeley police found Dowling in his car the morning after the shooting, they said in 2024. When they searched the car, police said, they found four guns, at least one of which was \u201cconsistent with\u201d the casings found in the dorm, as well as a cache of ammunition. According to a police statement from Dowling\u2019s arrest, when officers interviewed him, he \u201cacknowledged the shooting and said, \u2018I should have shot the ceiling or scared him or something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At Thursday\u2019s hearing, Dowling wore a green-and-white striped jail jumpsuit over a bright-orange T-shirt, white sneakers and glasses. He had short white hair and a beard. Throughout the hearing he would frequently lean towards his attorney, Stephen DeFilippis.<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019s father and stepmother attended the hearing with a victims\u2019 advocate. They declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Judge Jason Chin determined there was probable cause to believe that Dowling had murdered Jones, and that the murder was a hate crime, and ordered Dowling to return to court June 11. DeFilippis indicated he would ask the judiciary to allow bail for Dowling, who has been in custody without bail at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin since his arrest.<\/p>\n

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