Crime & Safety

Witness Testifies that Suspect Fatally Shot San Lorenzo Student in 2012

The two victims were friends, and one was a freshman at Arroyo High School.

By Bay City News

A reluctant juvenile witness testified today that 18-year-old Diantay Powell fatally shot two teenage girls near Brookdale Park in East Oakland last November after an argument over another woman he was seeing.

The juvenile, who nearly was found in contempt of court because he refused to testify at one point, said he was hanging out in a car with Powell, co-defendant Antonio Edwards, 20, 16-year-old Bobbie Sartain and 15-year-old Raquel Gerstel shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2012, when Powell got a phone call and said his girlfriend was coming.

The 16-year-old boy, who was dressed in a blue Alameda County Juvenile Hall sweatshirt, said Sartain, who had been with Powell, got upset at Powell and slapped him and Powell then hit her.

Gerstel then got out of the car, which was parked in the 2600 block of Minna Avenue, and argued with Powell, the short and skinny youth said.

Powell reacted by shooting Gerstel in the head and then shot Sartain after she ran away from the car and said, "I'm not going to tell nobody" about Powell shooting Gerstel, the juvenile said.

The youth said Powell shot Sartain three to five times after she already had been shot and was lying on the ground.

Powell, 18, is charged with two counts of murder and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders. Edwards is charged with being an accessory for allegedly driving Powell away from the shooting scene.

The juvenile was the second witness to testify in a preliminary hearing that will determine if there's sufficient evidence for Powell and Edwards to be ordered to stand trial.

The first witness in the case, 30-year-old Albert Rich, who has prior convictions for false imprisonment and illegal gun possession, testified that Powell admitted a few days after the incident that he had fatally shot Gerstel and Sartain.

According to family members and friends, Gerstel and Sartain were friends who grew up together in Alameda. Gerstel lived in San Leandro and was a freshman at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo. Sartain lived on High Street
in Oakland, a few blocks from where the shooting happened.

The juvenile put his hands over his face during much of his testimony today and it was difficult for the attorneys and the judge in the case to hear him.

The juvenile also paused for long periods before answering most questions and at one point he refused to say anything at all.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson, who is presiding over the case, then told the teen that if he didn't answer any more questions he would be found in contempt of court and be held in jail until he cooperated.

After a short recess, the juvenile agreed to answer questions again but said, "I'm only going to say yes or no."

However, Rolefson told him that he would be required to give longer answers to some questions.

In response to a question from prosecutor Ben Beltramo, the juvenile said Oakland police interviewed him shortly after the fatal shooting when he was in custody in another county for violating his probation in another case.

The juvenile testified that a short time before the shooting, Powell said he was upset because he thought one of the teenage girls had taken his cellphone and he was going to kill one of them.

However, the youth said he thought that Powell was kidding when he said that.

The preliminary hearing will resume Wednesday morning.


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