Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Dublin Man's Murder

A West Oakland man pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge stemming from the fatal shooting of a Dublin man during an attempted robbery in downtown Oakland in November.

Damion Dupclay, 24, is scheduled to return to court on May 23 for a pretrial hearing for the shooting death of Jonathan Josiah Orbeton, 39, in the 1600 block of 18th Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Way at 2:37 a.m. on Nov. 12.

In addition to murder, Dupclay is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and evading an officer for fleeing police when they tried to pull him over.

Investigators allege that Dupclay shot Orbeton while trying to rob him. The shooting wasn't reported until just after 3 a.m. on Nov. 12, when a passerby told Oakland firefighters a man in his 30s was down under a streetlight, police said.

Officers arrived at 3:12 a.m.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video of the crime and saw Dupclay's car fleeing the area, police said.

The car was spotted later that day but Dupclay fled, leading police on a pursuit to the corner of 14th and Wood streets in West Oakland. He got out of the car and ran, but officers caught him quickly.

They found a .40-caliber gun in his car that matched the casings found at the crime scene, police said.

Oakland police said that after Dupclay was arrested, he confessed to killing Orbeton.

Dupclay is being held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail.

--Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock