Suspect in Coach John Beam shooting charged with murder

Cedric Irving Jr., the person accused of fatally capturing legendary Oakland soccer coach John Beam final week, has been charged with homicide.

At a information convention on the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse Monday afternoon, Alameda County District Legal professional Ursula Jones Dickson introduced the costs in opposition to Irving, which embrace homicide and enhancements to be used of a firearm, which might lengthen the sentence he may obtain if discovered responsible.

If convicted, Irving may face a jail sentence of fifty years to life, Jones Dickson mentioned.

Court docket paperwork present that officers from the Oakland Police Division used surveillance footage from the Nov. 13 incident to determine Irving, 27, as a suspect. On November 14, simply after 4 a.m., cops arrested Irving on the San Leandro BART station and took him to OPD’s Felony Investigation Division for questioning. Whereas there, police discovered a firearm in one in all Irving’s luggage. OPD Officer Kevin Godchaux wrote in a possible trigger assertion that Irving admitted the gun within the bag was his and that he used it to shoot Beam.

Based on the East Bay TimesIrving advised police he suspected Beam had carried out “witchcraft” on him. The police subsequently dedicated him to Santa Rita jail with out conducting a psychiatric examination.

The district legal professional declined to touch upon Irving’s psychological well being and mentioned Irving’s legal professional would touch upon that. Irving doesn’t but have an legal professional.

OPD Performing Chief James Beere advised reporters final week that Irving knew who Beam was, however the two weren’t in a relationship. Based on police, Irving was mentioned to be hanging out on campus.

Irving’s first courtroom look is scheduled for tomorrow morning on the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.

Reinstating obligatory minimal sentences for gun crimes

Jones Dickson used Monday’s information convention to additionally announce that she’s going to reinstate a coverage of requiring obligatory minimal sentences for gun crimes, which she mentioned was final in impact in the course of the tenure of former District Legal professional Nancy O’Malley.

Which means that an individual who pleads responsible or is discovered responsible of illegally possessing a firearm as a misdemeanor should serve at the very least 90 days; an individual convicted of a criminal offense and illegally in possession of a firearm will serve a jail sentence of at the very least 16 months; and an individual who possesses a so-called “ghost gun” – an unlawful, unregistered weapon and not using a serial quantity – must serve at the very least 180 days for a misdemeanor or 16 months for a misdemeanor, in keeping with the district legal professional.

“My objective is to make folks conscious that there’s completely some duty for carrying a gun in Oakland,” Jones Dickson mentioned.

Jones Dickson confirmed that Irving has no felony report and was not enrolled at Laney Faculty.

The district legal professional’s workplace has appointed victim-witness advocates to talk with Irving’s household.

After two back-to-back shootings on faculty campuses in Oakland final week, the district legal professional mentioned she is pushing for extra conversations about bettering faculty safety, however declined to elucidate what these safety measures would seem like. She mentioned she was notably involved about Skyline Excessive Faculty college students who have been on a area journey at Laney Faculty on the time of the capturing — simply at some point after a pupil was shot in a Skyline Excessive Faculty toilet.

“It’s unacceptable that we’ve kids in our neighborhood for whom that is now the norm,” mentioned Jones Dickson.

Jones Dickson advised reporters that her household had a connection to Beam. The legendary coach had spoken to her son at a soccer camp a number of years in the past, however her son did not know who Beam was on the time.

“Coach Beam took the time to speak to him, encourage him and inform him how good he was,” she mentioned. “He did not know till later when he watched ‘Final Probability U’ that Coach Beam was such a legend in Oakland.”