Prosecutors Dismiss Murder Charge in 2013 Fatal Shooting in Oakland

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office today dismissed a murder charge against an Oakland man who had been charged in the fatal shooting of another man in the Sobrante Park district in East Oakland last October.

Eric Lockhart, 22, was accused of fatally shooting 52-year-old Trent Prater in the 10600 block of Topanga Drive at about 7:20 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2013, and also was charged with arson because authorities alleged that he set fire to the van he allegedly used to flee the scene of the shooting. But prosecutor Chris Lamiero asked Alameda County Superior Court Judge Paul Delucchi to dismiss both charges today and the judge agreed.

Lockhart then pleaded no contest to being an accessory after the fact to a felony and will get a term of three years in state prison when Delucchi formally sentences him on Oct. 28. Lamiero declined to comment on the case after Lockhart’s hearing and District Attorney spokeswoman Teresa Drenick wasn’t available for comment.

Lockhart was arrested on Dec. 17, more than two months after Prater was killed.

By Bay City News