Family Feeling Threatened After OPD Blames Crime Wave On Woman's Murder
OAKLAND (KCBS)— The family of a 16-year-old Oakland girl shot and killed last summer is taking issue with police officials who they say have blamed the city's rising violence on her murder. One family member is calling it "defamation of character" and claims his family is put in danger by the police's assumption. The family said they've tried to reach out to the police to help, but to no avail.
Last August, Tattiauon Turner was shot outside an East Oakland liquor store at Talbott and Foothill. At the time, her Uncle, Brandon Turner, told KCBS she was not involved in street violence. Her father had been killed years before and she tried to steer clear.
"She wasn't an intended target. My niece wasn't like that. She just enjoyed having fun, getting dressed, putting her little pictures on Facebook, enjoying life and raising her daughter. That was it," Turner said.
Now five months later, Police Chief Howard Jordan said in a Monday news conference that 90 percent of the city's violence can be tied to the killing of an alleged girlfriend last summer of a member of one of two warring factions OPD is pointing the finger at for the spike in gun violence. Police have not confirmed, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports he was referring to Tattiauon and her uncle agrees.
Family of Oakland Murdered Teen Worry For Their Safety Based On OPD Assumption
"I feel like it's been five months since my niece has been murdered. No one has reached out to us yet to say, 'hey, can you help us?' If you feel that it stems from her, why not reach out to her family and say this is something we can partner together to do to stop it?" he asked.
Turner said the family knows nothing about the recent violence, and he worries for his family's safety now that people think they are to blame.
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