Two men have been charged in connection with the death of a 34-year-old who died while trying to recover his laptop when it was stolen from a California Starbucks.

Byron OJ Reed Jr. 22, and Javon Lee, 21, were arraigned Friday in California's Alameda County Superior Court on charges related to the death of Shuo Zeng, 34, in Oakland on New Year's Eve.

Reed is charged with murder and the special circumstance of committing a murder during a robbery, while Lee was charged with involuntary manslaughter. They are both also being charged with second-degree robbery, NBC Bay Area reported.

Both men were said to have been previously convicted on unrelated second-degree robbery charges in San Francisco in 2017.

Scroll down for videos

Suspects Byron Reed (left) and Javon Lee (right) were charged Friday in connection with the death of 34-year-old Shuo Zeng

Zeng (pictured) died Tuesday while chasing after thieves who stole his laptop while he was using it at a Starbucks in Oakland, California. He sustained head injuries while being dragged from the thieves' getaway car

Authorities believe that Reed (pictured) was driving the getaway car. He is charged with murder and the special circumstance of committing a murder during a robbery, as well as second-degree murder

The two men had been arrested at Reed's sister's home in Oakland at about 4pm Tuesday - just hours after the incident that led to Zeng's death.

Earlier, at about 11.30am, Zeng - a research scientist and engineer for Aspera - had been sitting by the door of a Starbucks in Oakland, using his laptop, when a man in a dark hoodie grabbed his it and ran to a car waiting outside.

Shuo Zeng had been celebrating his 34th birthday on December 31, the day he died

Zeng then ran out of the building and chased after the thief in an attempt to get back his laptop.

A witness told ABC7 that Zeng dived through the window of the getaway car as it began to drive off, but that 'there was a struggle and I think they pushed him out and then he got dragged.'

Zeng sustained head injuries after being dragged by the suspects' SUV and flung against a parked car as the SUV sped off. He then died at the hospital shortly before 5pm.

In a probable cause statement, Oakland police said surveillance video showed two people stealing Zeng's laptop, then jumping into the waiting car.

Authorities believe that Reed was driving the getaway car and that Lee had been involved in stealing the laptop, which facilitated the robbery and murder.

After a judge said that Reed was being held without bail - standard practice in California when defendants are first charged with murder - Reed's sister, Shaquila Reed, 30, of Oakland, was said to have shouted 'Why no bail?'

After the hearing, Shaquila and members of Lee's family were said to have gotten into a fight outside the courthouse, requiring four deputies to separate them.

Friends had been looking to celebrate New Year's Eve with Zeng (right), a Chinese native who got his doctorate at Kansas State University and was working for Aspera in the Bay Area

Reed's sister, Shaquila Reed (pictured), told reporters that she believed he was innocent because he had been babysitting her child when the robbery was committed

The fight was said to have been due to Lee's family being upset about what Shaquila had told reporters prior to the hearing - that she believed Reed is innocent because he was babysitting her child at her home when the robbery was committed, KPIX reported.

At the time, she told reporters that Reed was palling around 'with the wrong kind of people.'

She also described Reed as being 'a very loving person' and said that killing someone was 'one mistake he wouldn’t make.'

Reed and Lee are expected to be back in court Monday to be assigned attorneys and potentially enter pleas.

Jail records show that Lee's bail was set at $255,000.

Authorities are still investigating the Zeng incident and have not yet released information about the third suspect involved in the robbery.

A witness said that Zeng 'chased' after the thieves before jumping into their car. Authorities are seen outside the Starbucks where the incident occurred

Oakland police (pictured at the scene) told the DailyMail.com in an emailed statement that: 'Two Arrests have been made in connection with this Homicide, investigation continues'

The incident happened at around 11.30am at at the Starbucks in the 2000 block of Mountain Boulevard

Staff with Oakland Fire Department personnel saw some of the incident as they rendered first aid on Zeng, who later died at the hospital at about 5pm that day

Zeng's friends revealed that they were looking forward to celebrating both his birthday and New Year's Eve with him on the day that he died.

His LinkedIn profile indicated that the Chinese native had graduated with a physics degree from Sichuan University, before getting a doctorate at Kansas State University. He then moved to California in 2015 to work for Aspera.

His parents were flying from China to the US for their son's funeral, while a cousin living in New York also made her way to the Bay Area to identify his body.

The cousin told ABC 7 that she believed Zeng had chased after the thieves in an effort to either preserve his research or the photos that he was editing from a trip they had taken together recently.

She told the news station that she didn't 'want him to be remembered as a victim of a robbery because he's so much more than that. He's a scholar, he constantly reads.'

Zeng's coworker and friend, Peter Tseng, told the news station that Zeng was fond of hiking and a talented photographer.

'He liked the outdoors, and he actually brought a lot of us together a lot of times, you know, for activities,' Tseng said, adding that Zeng 'was a good friend. He was a really kind guy.'

Anyone with information about the incident that led to Zeng's death is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department Homicide Section at 510-238-3821.