Berkeley Man Charged with Murder During Oakland Robbery

A Berkeley man has been charged with murder with special circumstances in the fatal shooting and robbery of a man inside a West Oakland house last week, prosecutors said.

James Watson-Dixon, 29, is charged in the killing of 29-year-old Karlton McFay in the 2300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way at about 4:36 p.m. on Sept. 2. McFay was pronounced dead at the scene. In addition to murder, Watson-Dixon is charged with the special circumstance of committing a murder during the course of a robbery and dissuading a witness for allegedly ordering one of the other people who was at the house at the time of the shooting not to talk to police.

Watson-Dixon also is charged with possession of a firearm by an ex-felon because he has a prior conviction for home-invasion robbery in December 2011, for which he was placed on probation. Sgt. Michael Cardoza wrote in a probable cause statement that witnesses identified Watson-Dixon as the person who entered the residence in the 2300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, north of West Grand Avenue and near Interstate Highway 980, and pulled a gun on McFay.

Cardoza said that when police interviewed Watson-Dixon he admitted driving to the residence to look for McFay for the purpose of robbing him. McFay was then shot and killed during the robbery, according to Cardoza. Waston-Dixon, who lives at 1830 Prince St. in Berkeley, then fled the scene in a new Toyota Camry that’s registered to him, Cardoza said, Watson-Dixon, who’s being held without bail at the Glenn Dyer Jail in Oakland, was arraigned on Thursday and is scheduled to return to court on Monday to have an attorney assigned to him and possibly enter a plea.

By Bay City News

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