OAKLAND — A Berkeley man in his early 20s has been sentenced to 21 years in state prison for shooting a car full of family members, killing a 19-year-old pregnant woman, court records show.
Charles Jones, 23, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of 19-year-old Sereinat’e Henderson, who was roughly two months pregnant when she was killed. Police said at the time Jones opened fire at a moving car near Prince and Ellis streets in Berkeley, hitting Henderson in the head. Inside the vehicle were Hender’s mother, 14-year-old-brother, and her 10-month-old baby, all of whom escaped injury.
Jones was sentenced on March 15, but remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin pending a transfer to the state prison system. He was given nearly four years credit for time spent behind bars between his arrest and the sentencing.
Henderson was killed on Oct. 21, 2020. Weeks later, Jones was arrested in connection with a nonfatal shooting in Berkeley, which police attributed to gang violence. Authorities also allege that Jones is an “associate” of a West Berkeley-based gang.
Henderson’s mother, Salima Wyrick, told the Berkeley Scanner she opposed the deal as too lenient.
“(Jones) not only took my daughter’s life, but he took my unborn grandchild’s life also. And he took his mom from him,” Wyrick told the Scanner. “He took her away from her siblings and her family. My family just wants to know why.”