OAKLAND — The three men accused of killing former San Jose police officer Kevin Nishita more than two years ago were working on behalf of a San Francisco street gang known for breaking into cars and robbing people, according to new court documents filed Friday.
Laron Gilbert, Shadihia Mitchell and Hershel Hale are facing gang enhancement charges in the November 2021 slaying, which happened on 14th Street in downtown Oakland as Nishita was working as a security guard for a local television station. The filings allege the men were committed the crimes to benefit the San Francisco street gang Mac Block, based on court transcripts, jail recordings and witness statements.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has scheduled a press conference for Friday afternoon concerning the new charges.
U.S. Marshals took Gilbert into custody Jan. 17 in Blue Springs, Mo., near Kansas City, federal authorities said. Authorities have not said how they learned Gilbert was in Missouri.
At the time of the incident, Nishita was working for Star Protection Agency. He had previously worked as a police officer for the Oakland Housing Authority and for police departments in San Jose, Hayward and Colma.
All three men were arrested in the days after the killing, but police did not book Gilbert on a murder warrant, according to Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods, whose office is representing Mitchell. Once authorities were ready to charge Gilbert, he was no longer in custody.
Woods has claimed that Gilbert, not Mitchell, was the actual shooter. The attorney said in a recent statement that Gilbert went on the run while investigators “tried to cover up their incompetence by skewing the case to make it seem like our client was the shooter.”
Prosecutors originally charged Mitchell with personally killing Nishita, but that allegation was dropped.
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