Joe “Fatter” Blacknell III was sentenced to life in prison plus more than 200 years without possibility of parole for the March 2009 murder of an up-and-coming East Bay rap artist and a September 2009...
How do you say hello to a convicted murderer? The thought darted through my head as I strode through the Martinez Courthouse jail facility’s winding corridors of concrete and steel. In moments I would be...
For Tyris Franklin, the rest of his life could depend on what was going through his 16-year-old mind when he shot Gene Deshawn Grisby-Bell four times, killing the unarmed student-athlete. “I don’t remember what happened,”...
The day after Tuesday’s shooting in unincorporated North Richmond left a 22-year-old man dying on the sidewalk, a city anti-violence agency filed a complain tagainst a Contra Costa Sheriff’s deputy, accusing him of assaulting one...
The Office of Neighborhood Safety is in the spotlight at City Hall again, and growing unrest between the agency and its critics threatens to engulf much of the city’s government and hamper larger goals of...
As the jury’s deliberation dragged into a second week, the pressure mounted. Always unflappable in the courtroom, prosecuting attorney Derek Butts nevertheless found himself wracked with inner anxiety. “Those two weeks were brutal,” Butts said....
A 23-year-old Richmond resident was shot and killed while riding in a car from a party in South Richmond Friday night. The victim, William Cantrell was one of three people in the car, which was...
Joe Blacknell III was found guilty Thursday of 20 felony counts, including the first degree murder of Marcus Russell in 2009. Jurors reached their decision after more than eight days of deliberations. Blacknell, 21, was...
North Richmond is unique, and it’s a place with heart. That was the undeniable theme Wednesday night, as about 200 people packed City Council chambers for the premiere of “An Exploration of Our History, North...
On the first day of witness testimony for the defense, public defender Diana Garrido spent several hours focused on what may be the prosecution’s biggest weaknesses in its case against Joe Blacknell III: shaky witnesses...
The burly detective turned up the intensity, sometimes yelling in a bass-heavy bellow, cursing frequently. His partner chipped in some grim facts—she reminded the 18-year-old suspect about the prospects of a lifetime behind bars. And...
On the night before his death, Marcus Russell’s nerves were uneasy, and a red minivan was lurking curbside a few blocks from his grandmother’s house, his mother testified Monday. But before Faith Russell could see...
One witness didn’t show, two were several hours late, and the most pivotal one had a foggy memory. On the fifth day of testimony in one of the most anticipated criminal cases coming out of...
