SAN LEANDRO — As a teen, Stockton resident Jordan Whatley got his mother’s name tattooed on his hand.
In 2022, Alameda County prosecutors used the sweet gesture to charge Whatley with murdering a San Leandro bud tender during a wild and chaotic shootout between a group of at least five masked burglars and two private cops. Evidence against some of the five suspects was scant, but police matched the hand tattoo of a gunman that read “Tyietha” to Whatley. In the end he was sentenced to 15 years in state prison last April, court records show.
Five suspects were originally charged in the Sept. 11, 2022 shootout, which claimed the life of Victor Domingo and left a security guard and a suspected burglar suffering gunshot wounds. Aside from Whatley, who pleaded no contest to manslaughter, 23-year-old Demoni Simmons was sentenced to seven years after pleading no contest to a robbery charge, court records show.
The other three walked away from the case free men. Charges were dismissed against Isaac Brice — originally charged with robbery — and Cedric Devall, who’d been accused of kidnapping Domingo during the break-in. The fifth suspect, Demetrius Wells, was sentenced to time he had already served in jail after pleading no contest to burglary.
“This was an ultimate tragedy. I’m happy that the prosecution has allowed Mr. Wells to move on with his life and do the best that he can,” defense attorney Annie Bells, who represented Wells, said at the 2024 sentencing hearing. “He’s got a lot of dreams. He’s talked to me about what he’s doing, and I’m very proud of him for staying optimistic and positive in a very difficult situation.”
The five were charged in December 2022 with playing various roles in the robbery and shootout. Police alleged the group targeted an illicit warehouse, protected by armed, private security, on Adams Avenue in San Leandro. The security guards responded in different vehicles and ended up exchanging gunfire with three suspects, they testified.
Defense attorneys contended the guards had no right to fire at burglars, and Devall’s lawyer argued at the 2024 preliminary hearing that it was more likely Domingo was killed by the private officers’ bullets. The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Luis Marin, argued that Whatley was the only one seen on surveillance footage firing in Domingo’s direction when he was killed.
The two armed guards, Charles Holmes, and Donavan Houston , testified at the hearing. Houston said that he came face-to-face with the suspects, and that the shootout was on within one second of him yelling at them to drop their guns. He said they shot first and he returned fire, and was struck three times.
Holmes testified he arrived later, and also exchanged gunfire with the burglars. The two guards fired an estimated 22 shots during the chaos. After the shootout, Holmes said he attempted to “clear the building” when he came across Domingo.
“”He was shot up pretty bad…on the ground bleeding profusely out of everywhere,” Holmes said. “I tried to stop the bleeding. I got his main artery in his leg stopped but he was bleeding out everywhere else. Couldn’t help him.”
Domingo died days later at a hospital. Wells was found injured on Adams Avenue and arrested. The others took off. A San Leandro officer testified he identified Brice, a passenger in a U-haul van the burglars used, following a brief chase. The driver was not identified, according to court records.
Brice’s lawyer, Vicki Jensen, argued that there was “no evidence” Brice’s presence in the van meant he was involved in the warehouse break-in. Judge Paul Delucchi and dismissed the case.
Similarly, Devall’s lawer, Claire White, picked apart the police identification of her client, who an officer testified was matched to a flyer from surveillance footage because he’s “tall and skinny” and through his eyes, which are peering above a mask. White, who is facing pending state bar disciplinary allegations, questioned how someone could be recognized by his eyeball from a picture.
“He’s got two beautiful eyes and that TRAK flier doesn’t do justice to Mr. Devall’s eyes,” White said. Devall was held to answer at the preliminary hearing, but prosecutors later through out the case for lack of evidence, court records show.
As for Houston, who when Holmes found him had a bullet “sticking out his belly button,” he was hospitalized and moved to “light duty” after that incident. Shortly before the preliminary hearing, he retired for a 24-year private security career, he testified.