Tragic Irony

Man shot, killed hours after candlelight vigil to end violence
RICHMOND: 33-year-old's death capped bloody week, in which shootings killed four and wounded two

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

About a dozen people gathered at Nevin Park on Thursday night to pray and call on the young people to stop the shootings.

Not many joined them, the Rev. George Brown said, perhaps intimidated by the television crews that cluster here when the killings mount. The locals stayed across the street.

Despite that, Brown believes the message resonated.

"Everything was peaceful when we were there. We were doing what we were doing, and even though they were not with us, I feel they were hearing us, they were supporting us," Brown said Friday. "But when we left ..."

"The Devil knows when to get busy."

A dark-colored van rounded the corner of Fourth Street and Macdonald Avenue about 9 p.m., two hours after the candlelight vigil ended, and the familiar chatter of gunfire again violated the Iron Triangle.

The drive-by gunmen shot a building, two cars and 33-year-old Reginald Collier, who died while a friend drove him to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Richmond Detective Sgt. Mitch Peixoto said.

His killing capped a bloody week for Richmond, where shootings killed four and wounded two on city streets, and another died and one more was wounded in unincorporated North Richmond.

The last two killings were both within a block of the park and the Nevin Community Center, home of several nonprofits and community groups working to improve life in the Iron Triangle and other flatland neighborhoods.

"It is so sad about this latest killing," Mayor Irma Anderson said. "People come out for these young people when they die, but where were they when they were alive?"

Although police found few leads overnight on Collier's death, they did arrest 22-year-old Jonathan McClain in connection with an earlier shooting Thursday in the Iron Triangle that sent a man to the hospital in critical condition.

A dispute between the parties on a different day preceded the shooting, near the corner of Eighth Street and Lucas Avenue. McClain and his cousin were in the neighborhood about 4:15 p.m. when they saw the victim, and McClain pulled a handgun, Peixoto said.

"The victim saw the suspect coming and turned to run," Peixoto said. "At that point the suspect began shooting."

Officers Nathan Lonso and Miguel Castillo arrived quickly enough to catch the suspect before he fled the neighborhood. Detective Eric Smith quickly developed enough evidence to book McClain into County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of attempted murder.

McClain is the cousin of 25-year-old Sedrick Mills, killed Monday near the corner of Fifth Street and Nevin Avenue. Peixoto said police found no connection between Mills' death and the shooting on Lucas.

McClain is also the older brother of Joshua McClain, Peixoto said, a suspect in the May 18 shooting on Barrett Avenue that killed 24-year-old Oscar Navarro. Police arrested him on suspicion of murder, but he was only charged with illegally possessing a firearm.

This week's killings pushed Richmond's 2006 homicide total to 29 as of Friday afternoon, two more than were reported in the city at this time last year.

Five have been killed so far this year in unincorporated North Richmond, equaling last year's number on Sept. 10, and matching that community's highest homicide total in 10 years.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.