A woman testified at a preliminary hearing in June in an Oakland courtroom that she drove the suspected killer of 29-year-old Darnesha Williams away from the scene of a gas station shooting, telling the court that the suspect confessed to the crime right there in her truck. The testimony came in the case against Lanae Adams, who faces murder charges in connection with Williams's death outside the Kwik Serve station on East 12th Avenue in January 2025.
According to the East Bay Times, the witness testified under a grant of immunity that she had been parked in a pickup truck at the Kwik Serve with her daughter when Adams approached after the shooting and asked for a ride. The witness said Adams appeared distraught and, while being driven away, confessed to the homicide. The woman also testified that she was addicted to drugs, living on the streets at the time, and had a pending fraud case out of San Mateo — and that she hoped police would help her get into drug rehabilitation, though they did not. She said she and Adams were both living difficult lives around the time of the killing, and that her own legal troubles since then had pushed her to turn her life around.
Williams was shot on January 2, 2025, at the Kwik Serve in the 2200 block of East 12th Avenue, according to Mercury News. Police said Williams had pulled up to the station in a stolen Audi and was shot while trying to drive away, in a shooting that occurred roughly five minutes before midnight. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead the next day. Investigators have described the shooting as targeted but have not disclosed a motive, and neither authorities nor the alleged getaway driver discussed the alleged motive.
How Investigators Say They Identified Adams
Police said Adams arrived at the gas station with another person shortly before the shooting, and that surveillance video captured her shooting Williams in the head just minutes after arriving. Investigators reviewed that footage and said they recognized distinctive tattoos on the suspect, later matching them to photos on Adams's Facebook and Instagram pages to make a positive identification, the outlet's report noted. Police say Adams then approached the pickup truck where the witness and her daughter were parked, got a ride, and left the scene in that vehicle.
Adams was arrested on February 11, 2025, on 23rd Avenue in Oakland. At the apartment where she was taken into custody, police said they found guns and a beanie matching what the shooter was seen wearing in surveillance footage. She has since pleaded not guilty and remains held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, with no trial date yet set.
Gun Charges Dismissed, Other Arrest Made
Judge Delia Trevino dismissed two felony counts against Adams related to alleged possession of guns and ammunition found at the apartment, after police testified that several other people had access to the unit. Separately, police arrested a man for allegedly storing two guns inside the same apartment, though the East Bay Times report does not detail that individual's identity or current legal status.
A Falling Homicide Count, But East Oakland Still Hit Hardest
The Williams killing came during a year in which Oakland's overall homicide numbers were dropping sharply. The city ended 2025 with 67 people killed, according to the Guardian, roughly half of the 134 homicides recorded at the city's 2021 peak and the lowest total in 25 years. Still, East Oakland bore a disproportionate share of the violence: 28 of those 67 homicides occurred in police areas five and six, which make up that part of the city, per the same report. Oakland had already seen killings drop from 131 in 2012 to 78 in 2019 before the pandemic-era spike, and the city restarted its Ceasefire violence-prevention program in 2023, returning it to its original focus, according to the Guardian's reporting.
