Man Gets 25 Years to Life for Murder During Fight Outside Oakland Liquor Store

A 23-year-old Oakland man was sentenced today to 25 years to life in state prison for fatally shooting another young man during an argument outside an East Oakland liquor store two years ago. Jason Hall pleaded no contest earlier this year to second-degree murder for shooting to death 22-year-old Marcus Lamar Evans of Oakland in the 9000 block of MacArthur Boulevard at about 4 p.m. on April 20, 2013.

Evans died at a local hospital the following day. Hall was arrested by the California Highway Patrol about two months later, on June 13, 2013, after the car he was driving was stopped for speeding in the Hayward area.

Prosecutor Robert Graff said the fatal shooting was the culmination of a personal dispute between Hall and Evans, who had been friends at one point. Graff said Evans had been bullying Hall for sometime and the two men wound up getting into a confrontation in the liquor store’s parking lot on April 20, 2013.

He said the situation began when one of Hall’s friends got into a verbal altercation with Evans and escalated when Evans and the other man got into a fistfight. However, Hall wasn’t directly involved in the fight, according to Graff. Evans then punched Hall, who pulled out a gun, and the two men exchanged words, Graff said. Hall then shot Evans multiple times, Graff said.

The prosecutor said the incident was captured by a surveillance camera at the liquor store as well as on a cellphone video recorded by a woman who was driving by the scene. The woman didn’t know Hall and Evans but saw the fight and thought it was “cool” and it would be fun to post it on the Internet so she stopped her car and recorded it.

Hall would have faced the possibility of being convicted of first-degree murder if his case had gone to trial but he didn’t have a prior criminal record and Evans’ family agreed to the plea bargain that called for Hall to plead no contest to second-degree murder, Graff said.

Evans’ mother, Juanita Evans, said in a letter read in court today by a relative that two years after his death, “It’s still very painful to deal with this senseless murder.” Evans said, “I’ve lost my appetite and I can’t sleep” and her daycare business has declined because she’s lost her focus and concentration. Evans said her son “has a 5-year-old daughter who will never see him again.” She told Hall, “I’m sorry you took a life and wasted a life,” referring to the lengthy sentence he will serve.

Hall, in a statement read aloud by his lawyer, Andrew Steckler, said, “I’m sorry about what I did. In life you have choices and I made a bad choice.” Hall said, “I just wish the circumstances were different and this had never happened. I’m really sorry, especially for his daughter.”

By Bay City News

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