PITTSBURG — A 40-year-old Antioch man has been convicted in a June 2007 cold-case fatal shooting of another man during an attempted robbery and has been sentenced to prison, authorities said.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Desante Blake, a 40-year-old Antioch resident who was arrested in June 2023, pleaded no contest on Sept. 9 and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, attempted robbery and firearm enhancements in the death of Larry Abercrombie. Blake was sentenced to 23 years in state prison on Wednesday.
Abercrombie was fatally shot about 10:45 p.m. June 8, 2007 during an attempted robbery in front of his home on South Catamaran Circle. He died later at a hospital.
Police said at the time they believed the killing was drug related and that two suspects were involved.
Police said the second suspect still has not been identified but that they are confident Blake was the actual shooter.
According to police, the case remained unsolved for more than a decade until last year, when DNA evidence taken off Abercrombie’s clothing led to a match with Blake’s DNA. Blake’s DNA was on file with the Combined DNA Index System, a national database of DNA profiles that helps law enforcement solve crimes, because of prior arrests, authorities said.
Pittsburg Lt. William Hatcher said after investigators learned of the DNA link, they began researching Blake’s past. They found that in 2010 a search warrant had been served in an unrelated case on a home where Blake had been staying: Police recovered a handgun magazine, gun box, and purchase receipt for a firearm that was not found in the home then but later turned out to have been the one used in the homicide, Hatcher said.
After uncovering that information, police obtained another search warrant for Blake’s home, which was served in June 2023.
That search uncovered what turned out to be the alleged murder weapon, hidden in a jacket pocket in his closet, along with additional illegal firearms. Hatcher said. Ballistic examinations confirmed the weapon’s involvement in the shooting, and a one-to-one comparison of Blake’s DNA further linked him to the crime scene, police said.
He was formally charged in June 2023.
Police said in a release that “the combined efforts of numerous dedicated detectives, patrol officers, district attorney investigators, and support from our community partners resulted in the final charges and (Wednesday’s) sentence. We are proud of the teamwork and tenacity that led to the resolution of this case. The Pittsburg Police Department would like to extend our deepest thanks to everyone involved in this investigation, especially those who helped bring justice to the Abercrombie family after all these years.”
Anyone with information about the second suspect is asked to call police at 925-252-4980.