Oakland Man Convicted of Murdering 2 Teen Girls

OAKLAND, CA - An Oakland man was convicted Thursday of two counts of murder and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders for fatally shooting two teenage girls near Brookdale Park in East Oakland in 2012.

Diantay Powell, who's now 21 and was 18 at the time, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion when jurors announced their verdicts for the shooting deaths of 16-year-old Bobbie Sartain and 15-year-old Raquel Gerstel in the 2600 block of Minna Avenue near Brookdale Avenue around 5 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2012.

Jurors convicted Powell of second-degree murder for the death of Gerstel, who he shot first, and first-degree murder for the death of Sartain, who he shot next as she tried to run away.

Powell will face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole when he's sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay on July 29.

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Powell's lawyer, Darryl Stallworth, admitted during the trial that Powell shot both girls but said he should only be found guilty of two counts of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter because he acted rashly and in the heat of passion.

Stallworth said Powell lacked the ability to make intelligent decisions and premeditate a murder because he suffered from a terrible childhood, had absentee parents and regularly used drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and cough syrup.

But prosecutor Melissa Dooher said Powell should be found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and told jurors in her closing argument that it was "ridiculous" for Stallworth to claim that Powell was provoked by the girls before he fired about two dozen bullets at them from a 9mm semi-automatic gun.

"I submit there was zero provocation" on the part of Sartain and Gerstel, Dooher said, describing the victims as "two little girls."

She said Powell had no justification for shooting them simply because they refused to get out of his car and Sartain threatened to call the police after he punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground.

Dooher said Powell first shot Gerstel and then shot Sartain as she "begged for her life" and tried to run away.

Gerstel and Sartain were friends who grew up together in Alameda.

Gerstel lived in San Leandro and was a freshman at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo.

Sartain lived on High Street in Oakland, a few blocks from where the shooting happened.

Sartain and Gerstel were involved in relationships with Powell and his friend Antonio Edwards, respectively, according to testimony and attorney statements in the case.

Quincy Carter, who is now 19 but was 16 at the time, testified during Powell's trial that he had been hanging out in a car with Powell, Edwards, Sartain and Gerstel in the 2600 block of Minna Avenue in the early morning hours of Nov. 25, 2012, but the atmosphere grew tense when Powell got a call from one of his girlfriends and asked Sartain and Gerstel to leave.

Carter said Sartain didn't want to leave the car and got into an argument with Powell.

He said the argument continued with Powell pulling Sartain out of the car, Sartain punched Powell in the face and Powell retaliating by hitting her back.

Carter said Gerstel told Powell, "You just knocked my cousin down" and Powell responded by telling her, "I will knock you down, too" and used an expletive.

Powell then opened fire, Carter testified.

Edwards, who was 19 at the time and is now 23, stood trial with Powell on a charge of being an accessory after the fact for allegedly driving Powell away from the shooting scene, but Dooher decided to dismiss that charge against him earlier this week because he only would have faced an eight-month sentence if he was convicted of that crime.

Edwards is already serving a term of 95 years to life in state prison because he was convicted last year of robbery, rape, assault with a deadly weapon and other sex charges for allegedly assaulting a woman and knocking her boyfriend unconscious in an unrelated incident in the 2800 block of Ettie Street in East Oakland on Dec. 8, 2012.

Edwards also is charged with the robbery and kidnapping of three separate victims during a takeover residential robbery in West Oakland on Dec. 13, 2012, as well as an assault with a semiautomatic firearm on one of the three victims during the course of those crimes. A trial date hasn't yet been set in that case.

Gerstel's father Barton Gerstel said today he's "grateful" that Powell was convicted of two counts of murder and will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Sartain's mother Bambi Sartain said, "Justice was served but nothing will bring my daughter back."

Stallworth said he had hoped that the jury would only convict Powell of voluntary manslaughter "because of the trauma he underwent and his substance abuse" but said he respects its verdict.

--Bay City News