DA tosses murder case against Oakland man accused of killing brother

OAKLAND Prosecutors here have thrown out the murder occurrence against a local resident who d been charged with killing his brother during a confrontation court records show Matthew John had been charged with fatally shooting -year-old Joshua Hopkins on Feb as the two argued on the block of Seminary Avenue In September prosecutors dropped the murder occurrence but John isn t perfectly out of hot water he pleaded no contest to robbing a Berkeley jewelry store with two others in a takeover heist and will serve three years in state prison court records show John s two co-defendants in the robbery Jafar Neal and Derell Woods also accepted plea deals for prison sentences of three and eight years respectively court records show Police say the three men targeted the Karats jewelry store on the block of College Avenue in Berkeley on Jan with one robber pointing a gun at the owner while others smashed jewelry cases At John s preliminary hearing in the murder affair last May Hopkins substantial other testified that Hopkins left their apartment then came back bleeding from a gunshot wound An online charity fundraiser over Hopkins death says he was shot in front of his infant son but his girlfriend testified that wasn t the matter Hopkins notified me he needed to go to the hospital He was shot and he was bleeding she testified She later added that she tried to get him to a expert but he bled out in front of my apartment On cross-examination she testified that Hopkins had several mental illnesses including ADHD schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but that he didn t get physically aggressive with people Related Articles Trucker deported while facing misdemeanor charge in fatal East Bay crash Two arrested in series of Berkeley home-invasion robberies San Pablo man sentenced to life for killing ex-girlfriend in Fatal August shootings in Oakland hills determined to be murder and suicide Person wounded in Oakland freeway shooting second in two days John s attorney Deputy General Defender Desiree Woods argued the available evidence pointed a picture as Hopkins as the aggressor She referred to the shooter as the person and him not conceding that it was her client Hopkins punched him He broke the windshield He threatened him with a rock He pushed him into oncoming traffic And every single time the person walked away except for once where they turned and squared up and then turned around and walked away Woods noted Judge Jason Chin upheld the murder charge against John but agreed that there are issues for the District Attorney with this circumstance But identity and cause of death are not two of them Chin added