3rd suspect in Kevin Nishita murder extradited to Bay Area after arrest near Kansas City
OAKLAND – The third suspect in the 2021 killing of Oakland security guard Kevin Nishita is being extradited back to the Bay Area after he was arrested earlier this month in Missouri.
In an update Tuesday morning, Oakland Police said 29-year-old Laron Marques Gilbert is being transported to the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he is expected to arrive in the afternoon.
Earlier this month, U.S. Marshals in Kansas City, Missouri learned that Gilbert was in the area. Authorities arrested Gilbert in a Kansas City suburb on January 17.
"We never stop," Sgt. Nicole Allen of the department's Homicide Section said at Tuesday's briefing. "We go as far as we need to go, whethere is Missouri, whether it's New York, whether it's San Leandro. Cases are still going as long as there are suspects are out there, we'll keep looking for them."
Gilbert is one of three people charged with murdering Nishita, a former police officer who served as a security guard for broadcast news operations in the Bay Area, including KPIX.
Nishita was guarding a TV news crew on November 24, 2021 covering a burglary in downtown Oakland when two men attempted to rob the crew. One of the suspects then shot Nishita, who died several days later.
Gilbert is alleged to have been the getaway driver in the incident.
"Thank you from Kevin, our family and myself," Virginia Nishita, Kevin's widow, said at Tuesday's briefing. "Thank you to the Oakland Polilce Department, the U.S. Marshals and all of the law enforcement agencies that were involved in this capture."
The other two suspects in the case, Shadihia Mitchell and Hershel Hale, were arrested in 2022. Both men are awaiting trial on murder charges.
