Crime & Safety
Alameda Woman Ordered to Stand Trial For Murder
She's accused of fatally shooting the victim.
ALAMEDA, CA — A judge today ordered an Alameda woman to stand trial on murder and elder abuse charges for allegedly fatally shooting her 73-year-old boyfriend last year after they argued over money.
Donna Marie Qualls, 55, was ordered by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman to return to court on Jan. 5 to have a date scheduled for her trial.
Qualls is accused of killing 73-year-old Emmanuel Emmett Christy at her apartment in the 700 block of Buena Vista Avenue in Alameda shortly before 10:20 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2015. Alameda police Detective Alex Keden testified that Qualls called 911 after the shooting and told a dispatcher, "I shot him. He's been hurting
me and he told me to give him money."
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Keden said when he went to Qualls' apartment a short time later, he found Christy lying on his right side on his bed with a gunshot wound to his left ear area. Christy was pronounced dead at the scene.
Keden said he then found the revolver that apparently had been used in the shooting on a counter downstairs. He testified that Qualls told him that she'd dated Christy, who lived in Oakland, for about 10 years and
when he came to her apartment at about 6 a.m. that day everything was fine for a while.
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But Qualls said Christy later said he wasn't feeling well so he went upstairs to lie down on a bed for a while, according to Keden.
Qualls said she and Christy then argued over money and he punched her in the head and she fell into a bathtub, Keden said. However, Keden said Qualls told her that Christy apologized, told her he loved her and went to sleep.
But Keden said Qualls said she later stood over Christy, asked him, "Why won't you leave?" and then retrieved a revolver and ammunition from her son's bedroom. Qualls said she then walked back to the bed where Christy was lying down, put the gun to the left side of his head and fired one shot, according to Keden.
Qualls said her son heard the shooting and asked her to call police and unload the gun, which she did, Keden testified.
The detective said when he interviewed Qualls, she said that day was the first time that he had laid hands on her but she'd been upset with him in the past because he had brought dogs into her apartment that had fleas
and had put feces on her furniture.
In his cross-examination of Keden, defense attorney William DuBois tried to show that Qualls was remorseful for shooting Christy.
Keden admitted that when he interviewed Qualls she said, "I made a mistake and I have to deal with it. I'm very sorry. I'm a godly person and I love him. I feel very bad."
DuBois didn't strongly oppose having Qualls ordered to stand trial for murder, only telling Judge Goodman that her comments "are inconsistent with consciousness of guilt."
After the hearing, DuBois said, "This is clearly a manslaughter case" and said he believes the only issue is if it's voluntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 11 years, or involuntary manslaughter,
which carries a lesser punishment of two to four years in state prison.
DuBois said he thinks there's evidence that Qualls didn't intend to shoot Christy because Qualls may have only been using the gun to prod him to wake up but it went off accidentally.
Christy's son Emmanuel Emmett Christy Jr. is a lieutenant with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock
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