Man Accused In Albany Murder Faces Judge

OAKLAND, CA —An Oakland man was charged with murder Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a Vallejo man on the Ohlone Greenway in Albany in broad daylight on Sunday morning.

Thomas Shimamura, 31, was arraigned on the murder charge or the shooting of 23-year-old Raphael Fuentes-Lee on the Ohlone Greenway between Portland and Garfield avenues at about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Fuentes-Lee was taken to a local hospital after he was shot but died there a short time later, according to police.

Kayla Gibson-Wytch, 21, of Berkeley, was also arrested in connection with the shooting but the Alameda County District Attorney's Office hasn't filed any charges against her at this point. However, she's still being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail, according to Alameda County jail records.

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Albany police Detective Jose Lara wrote in a probable cause statement that a witness saw Shimamura and Gibson-Wytch talking to each other on the Ohlone Greenway before the shooting and then heard a gunshot and looked over and saw them running north on the greenway toward El Cerrito.

Lara said a second witness gave police photos of Shimamura and Gibson-Wytch as they walked away from the shooting scene. That witness reported hearing a loud noise and saw Gibson-Wytch stepping back and covering her ears, according to Lara.

The photos of Shimamura and Gibson-Wytch were sent to neighboring police agencies in an attempt to identify them and a Berkeley homicide detective was able to identify Gibson-Wytch from previous contacts and arrests, Lara wrote.

Gibson-Wytch was arrested on Monday morning and told police that Shimamura was the person who fatally shot Fuentes-Lee, according to Lara. Police then "established that Shimamura was the person who fired
the fatal shot that killed the victim," Lara wrote.

Shimamura was then arrested at the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Jones Street in North Berkeley at about 6:15 p.m. on Monday, police said.

Shimamura admitted to police that he was in Albany on the day of the shooting but he declined to talk about the shooting and said he wanted to be represented by a lawyer before he provided a statement, Lara said.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock