The case remained cold until an eyewitness came forward, but even then the defense argued that the victim’s behavior was erratic and violent.
OAKLAND — Two men have accepted plea deals and prison terms in connection with a 2020 fatal shooting that went unsolved for years.
Ahmad Wyatt, 46, pleaded no contest to manslaughter with the expectation of an 11-year prison term, court records show. His co-defendant, Andre Heard, 43, pleaded no contest to assault for a three-year prison term.
Wyatt is scheduled to be sentenced in August, while Heard is expected to be sentenced in April, court records show. The two men entered their pleas in late March.
Wyatt and Heard were originally charged with murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old Charles King Jr. during a Feb. 12, 2020 confrontation on the 1400 block of 85th Avenue in East Oakland. Defense attorneys argued the men were minimally culpable for the “bizarre” killing, where an eyewitness told police that King was acting belligerent and confrontational, and that Wyatt shot and killed him after Heard fired at him.
The two men both allegedly shot guns, but a judge who heard witness testimony doubted that they’d actually acted together. At the time that Wyatt was arrested, police said King was yelling at passers-by near a liquor store and had knocked Wyatt to the ground before the shooting.
Wyatt was arrested in February 2024. Heard was arrested the following month and reportedly identified himself from surveillance footage that captured the shooting, but said he couldn’t remember firing his gun, authorities said.
Wyatt was a maintenance man for a soda company and the sole provider for an 8-year-old son when he was arrested, according to court records.