Reputed Gang Member Gets 13 Years for Fatal Retaliatory Shooting

OAKLAND, CA — A reputed gang member was sentenced today to 13 years in state prison for fatally shooting another man in Oakland in January 2013 in what a prosecutor said was a retaliatory act. Billy Joe Drinkwater, 33, was charged with murder for the drive-by shooting death of 20-year-old Malik Birchett in the 600 block of 55th Street at about 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2013, but he pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in the middle of his trial this summer.

Prosecutor Chris Cavagnaro said Drinkwater was a passenger in a red car and took out a semi-automatic firearm and started shooting into a gray pickup truck that contained people he thought were connected to the
fatal shooting of his friend, 29-year-old Lorenzo Lamar Ward, who was killed in the 800 block of 53rd Street, just a few blocks away, at about 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2012.

In his opening statement in Drinkwater's trial in June, Cavagnaro said the shots fired by Drinkwater struck and killed Birchett but missed fellow passenger Desmond Provost, 26, who was later charged with murder for
Ward's death.

Cavagnaro said Keiar Robinson, the driver of the car in which Drinkwater was traveling, told police he had no idea that Drinkwater was planning to open fire on the pickup truck. But the prosecutor told jurors, "It's pretty clear that this shooting didn't just happen for no reason" and said he believes it was because Drinkwater "had a problem" with Birchett and Provost.

Cavagnaro said Drinkwater was arrested in connection with Birchett's death eight days later 1,500 miles away in Oklahoma City, hinting that Drinkwater was conscious of his guilt and was fleeing the Bay Area.
Provost pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter for Ward's death and will receive a 21-year state prison for testifying against Drinkwater if a judge finds that his testimony was
truthful. He's scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 7.

Drinkwater's attorney, Alex Harper, said in his opening statement that there's not much evidence connecting Drinkwater to the fatal shooting of Birchett and "there are a lot of things that defy logic" in the case.
Harper also said the statements by Provost and other witnesses who entered into plea agreements with prosecutors aren't supported by the evidence in the case.

In addition, Harper said, "We don't know where the bullets came from that killed Mr. Birchett, who fired the shots and how many shots were fired" because there's a lack of direct evidence in the case.

Family members of both Birchett and Drinkwater packed the courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson for the sentencing hearing today. Thompson said the families of both Birchett and Drinkwater are "in pain" and both men have young children who will have to grow up without their
fathers.

By Bay City News

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