SAN LEANDRO — An East Bay marijuana grower was charged Tuesday with murder and other crimes for allegedly hiring two hitmen from Tennessee to kill her business partner.

Tikisha Upshaw, 37, is suspected of hiring Johnny Wright Jr. and Chariott Burks of Memphis, Tenn. to kill 38-year-old Adan Katami, according to court documents.

Katami, a father from Antioch, was fatally shot on a July afternoon while waiting in his truck to turn at Meekland Avenue and West Blossom Way in Cherryland. Katami was on his way to pick up his 4-year-old daughter when Wright Jr. allegedly got out of a car driven by Burks and shot Katami, authorities said.

Wright Jr. and Burks were arrested a short time later and are facing multiple charges, including murder.

Related Articles Alameda County: Man fatally shot, two suspects arrested in Cherryland An investigation into why the alleged killers traveled from Memphis to Alameda County led sheriff’s homicide detectives to Upshaw, a San Leandro resident who also goes by Tikisha Ong. Sgt. Ray Kelly, a sheriff’s spokesman, said Upshaw and Katami went into business together and “at some point that business relationship turned hostile.”

“As a result, Upshaw put a hit out on Katami,” Kelly said. “We have pretty solid evidence that that’s the case.” Kelly declined to elaborate on the evidence. The murder weapon was never found.

A search of Upshaw’s San Leandro home uncovered a “sophisticated illegal grow” operation, Kelly said.

Authorities have also charged 38-year-old Wessley Brown of Berkeley with murder. Brown allegedly acted as a middleman between Upshaw and the hitmen, according to Kelly.

Earlier this year, Upshaw was working to open Green Gods Compassion, a medical marijuana business, in San Francisco near the Daly City border. Rev. Amos Brown, president of San Francisco’s NAACP, endorsed Upshaw’s application with the city, saying the Bay Area lacked African American-owned cannabis businesses.

“I’m really shocked to hear this,” Brown said Wednesday. Brown said Upshaw volunteered at the NAACP. “My goodness.”

Upshaw also met with prominent San Francisco politicians, but ultimately did not get the permit, said Wayne Justmann, an adviser and consultant for medical marijuana dispensaries.

“I thought she was always very charming, very professional,” Justmann said. “Every time we had a meeting at City Hall she would have a briefcase and a lovely suit on.”

In recent months, she deleted her social media accounts and either turned off her phone or got a new number, Justmann said. “I kind of thought that was odd,” he said.

The news also stunned Robert Tankson, a founder of Presto Doctor, a company that allows patients to get medical marijuana cards through online appointments with doctors Tankson said his company was partnering with Upshaw to open her dispensary.

“She seemed like a stand-up person. I would have never expected that,” Tankson said.