Shawn Baldwin

Friends, family mourn Richmond woman killed in Oakland

Things were looking up for Rusamie Ashly Phongphoumy, who had long dreamed of a better life. On the night of Nov. 29, her boyfriend proposed to her. She accepted. The couple made plans for the future. But all that ended the next day, when she was killed in a West Oakland market, allegedly by a jealous ex-boyfriend. The 19-year-old Kennedy High graduate, who answered to her middle name, had been trying for the past few months to end the relationship…

Community gathers to prevent violence in wake of recent homicide

Calling for an end to the deadly violence that flared in Richmond in recent weeks, a small group of community volunteers from Ceasefire marched through Pullman Point Friday night. “We’ve been working tirelessly in the community to reduce gun violence,” activist Tamisha Walker said. The effort is part of a broader push by the community and police to stop the recent cycle of violence involving young men that culminated in a double homicide last month. Under the watchful eye of…

A cop, and resident, of Richmond public housing

Officer Benjamin Therriault moved into one of Richmond’s toughest neighborhoods three years ago as part of the city’s “Police-in-Properties” program. He lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Richmond Village, a low-income housing project that a few years ago was one of the city’s most violent.

Mourners remember man killed during struggle with Richmond police

More than 100 people gathered at Nicholl Park Saturday to remember a 24-year-old man shot and killed during a midnight scuffle with a Richmond police officer. Family and friends recalled Richard “Pedie” Perez III as a good-natured prankster. One family member described him as a man, “who chose to be with the homeless, the addicts and the rejects.” “He made the whole room laugh, everyone would light up when Pedie walked in,” Perez’s aunt, Rhonda Reeder Perez said. Richmond Police…