Oakland homicide victims' families demand action

Jeralynn Blueford, mother of Alan Blueford, who was shot and killed by a police officer, is part of the group of victims' families in Oakland. Jeralynn Blueford, mother of Alan Blueford, who was shot and killed by a police officer, is part of the group of victims' families in Oakland. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland homicide victims' families demand action 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Saying they too are casualties, families of Oakland homicide victims demanded better communication and cooperation with police and prosecutors who are struggling to bring those who killed their loved ones to justice.

At a Tuesday news conference at Oakland City Hall, 10 relatives of victims killed as early as 2005 and as recently as last year asked for help from city and county officials, saying not enough is being done to solve the slayings.

"Murderers are getting away with murder, and I am sure whoever they are will murder again," said Linda Jones, whose son Brandon Morris was killed in 2008. "The blood of those killed in the streets of Oakland is screaming for justice, and if the current elected officials can't or will not help, I and people like me need elected officials who can."

The speakers were all women - many mothers of victims, others grandmothers or sisters - and they addressed the media after holding a closed-door meeting with representatives of the city police force, the mayor's staff and the county district attorney's office.

They said the Police Department had seen too much turmoil and leadership change. They ended their statement by declaring that they were "casualties" of Oakland's staggering crime rate.

"My son's blood lies wasted in the streets," said Davoria Williams, whose son Clifford Snead was killed last year. They said police investigators need to communicate more with victims' families and asserted that Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley cuts too many plea deals with murder suspects. They asked Mayor Jean Quan to establish a policy to fight gun trafficking in Oakland.

Deputy Mayor Sandré Swanson said city officials "join the call of these parents for justice. We accept on behalf of the city their demands of the city and their request of the mayor's office."

Recent killings that have taken the lives of children is part of a "crime crisis" that is "unacceptable," Swanson said, adding that Quan was meeting with President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in Washington, D.C., "as we speak" to discuss additional resources for the city.

Oakland police Sgt. Holly Joshi, chief of staff for interim Police Chief Sean Whent, left before the news conference but said Lt. Drennon Lindsey, who oversees homicide investigators, would address the media. But Lindsey, too, left without addressing reporters.

O'Malley said her office was appreciative of the crime victims' concerns and that her prosecutors were eager to "join forces with them, and they with us, to bring justice in the courtroom to those people who have murdered their children."

According to Oakland police records, investigators solved 37 of 131 homicides in 2012, as well as 15 from prior years. In 2011, police solved 32 of 110 slayings as well as 14 from other years.