Reputed Gang Members Found Guilty In Oakland Restaurant Murders
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Two reputed gang members were each convicted Wednesday of two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder for a shooting at a restaurant near Jack London Square in April 2011 that left two people dead and five others wounded.
Jurors only deliberated for one full day before reaching their verdicts against Clem Thompkins, 25, and Lamar Fox, 24, for the shooting at Sweet Jimmie's at 311 Broadway at 12:42 a.m. on April 25, 2011.
Prosecutor Tim Wellman alleged in his closing argument on Monday that both men belong to the Lower Bottoms gang in West Oakland and that the purpose of the shooting was to avenge a confrontation they and several colleagues had had with a member of the rival Acorn gang at another restaurant nearby a short time earlier.
He said none of the shooting victims were affiliated with a gang, alleging that Thompkins fired 10 shots into the restaurant "to promote himself and his gang and to support Fox" after Fox got into an altercation with several people at the restaurant's entrance.
Thompkins and Fox face life in prison without the possibility of parole when they're sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Vernon Nakahara in February because they also were convicted of the special circumstance of committing multiple murders.
Wellman said the chain of events that led to the shooting began when an Acorn gang member flashed a signal to indicate that he was armed with a gun—a gesture that he said Thompkins and Fox interpreted as a sign of disrespect.
The prosecutor said Thompkins, Fox and two colleagues then drove to Fox's home to retrieve an assault rifle that Fox had stored there and returned to the Jack London Square area to look for the Acorn member.
Wellman said Thompkins and Fox didn't find the rival but "what they found instead were innocent victims."
He said Thompkins had been waiting in a car outside Sweet Jimmie's but after Fox got into an altercation with several people at the door Thompkins opened fire.
Wellman said Thompkins "just started blasting" and described the shooting as "over the top" and "beyond the pale."
Killed were William Jenkins, 27, of Oakland, and 22-year-old Adam Williams of San Leandro, who both had young children. Williams was an after-school teacher's aide at Peralta Elementary in Oakland.
Five other people were wounded in the shooting, four of them seriously, but they all survived.
In their closing arguments, defense lawyers for Thompkins and Fox blamed each other's clients for the shooting.
Fox's lawyer, Deborah Levy, said Fox played on a small role in the shooting and claimed he had no idea that Thompkins was going to start firing.
But Thompkins' lawyer, Darryl Billups, said he believes witnesses who identified Thompkins as the gunman were mistaken because Thompkins and Fox looked alike because they're about the same size and had similar clothing and hairstyles that night.
Levy said Wednesday that she's "not happy" about the verdict because "Mr. Fox didn't shoot anybody."
But Wellman said, "It's clear that Thompkins and Fox acted together and the shooting wouldn't have happened without both of them."
He said Thompkins carried out the shooting but "Fox provided the weapon."
Wellman said after the Acorn member disrespected Thompkins and Fox, "They felt they had to act or they would be seen as weak."
Billups declined to comment on the jury's verdict.
(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
