In an unexpected twist to the tragic killing of Oakland police officer Tuan Le, a fourth individual has found himself facing a murder rap, with Alameda County prosecutors throwing the book at Sebron Russell, 30, who had nearly landed a deal by agreeing to cough up a guilty plea on lesser burglary charges. According to an East Bay Times report, Russell's attorney, David Knutsen, slammed the charges as a rights runaround, alleging, “The District Attorney is attempting to thwart Mr. Russell’s rights with this proposed amended complaint.”
Prosecutor Elgin Lowe, leading the case amid a DA office shake-up, isn't easing up as it seems Russell, who was rapid-rapidly nabbed in San Fran after the Jan. 12 slaying, got snagged with a felony kidnapping charge linked to a separate 2019 weed biz heist, as stated by SFist. Russel was out on bail yet now finds himself cooped up once again in Santa Rita Jail, his bail situation hinging on the winds of court whimsy.
Lowe leveraged the detail that "a defendant may not simply plead guilty prior to an amendment being offered to avoid additional criminal charges," as he filed the murder charge bullseye on Russell who, up until recently, was the only one of the accused quartet to have tasted freedom on bail. Officer Le was gunned down in a grim fashion, struck in the skull as he and his partner, incognito in an unmarked truck, answered a 911 call about a break-in at an Oakland ganja greenhouse.
Other suspects on the hook for Le's death include the alleged triggerman Mark Demetrious Sanders, with Allen Starr Brown said to have been getaway-wheeling and Marquise Cooper's exact deeds in the debacle are still up for grabs, all accused of rounding out a break-in blitz including the spot that got Officer Le killed, which happened to be the third intrusion alarm that fated morning. Russell now joins this lineup, his originally solo commercial burglary gig, getting a grim upgrade, now wrapped in with the sins of that fatal heist, according to East Bay Times.
With revived charges from a scrapped 2019 caper nature is ominously rhyming, Russell, once steering clear thanks to evidential emptiness finds his slate muddied anew.
