OAKLAND (BCN) — A convicted drug dealer reacted emotionally Thursday after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a man who interjected himself into an argument between a father and a son at a corner store in West Oakland in July 2013.
Jurors deliberated for less than a day and a half before reaching their verdict against Alpacino “Capone” McDaniels, 30, for the shooting death of 23-year-old Teric Traylor of Oakland in the 800 block of Mead Avenue at about 7:30 a.m. on July 6, 2013.
After the verdict was announced, McDaniels, who has short hair and a trimmed beard, alternately put his head up, put it down, raised it again and shook it side to side and then put his hand over his face.
After jurors left the courtroom, McDaniels took off his sweater vest and appeared to say something to prosecutor Patrick Moriarty before bailiffs escorted him to a holding cell.
Because McDaniels was upset, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman didn’t set a sentencing date Thursday and instead ordered McDaniels to return to court on Feb. 8 to have a sentencing date set at that time.
Goodman told McDaniels’ attorney Jody Nunez, “I’ll put it over a few days until your client settles down a little bit.”
Moriarty said in his closing argument on Tuesday that testimony by two eyewitnesses provided sufficient proof that McDaniels was the man who shot Traylor and the only issue for jurors to decide was the degree of murder for which he should be convicted.
Moriarty said he believed first-degree murder was the most appropriate verdict, alleging that McDaniels acted with premeditation and deliberation because he “called his shot” by saying something to Traylor before he shot him.
Moriarty said he thinks McDaniels shot Traylor because Traylor was beating up and taunting McDaniels’ friend, Charles “Cheese” Fuller, in a fight that was being watched by a large group of people.
He said the fight occurred after Traylor interjected himself into an argument that Fuller was having with his father, Jeffrey “Pops” Fuller, at a corner store where they went to buy food after the Fullers, McDaniels and another man had been up all night drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.
Moriarty said Charles Fuller and Traylor got into a fight outside the market but after Traylor started winning the fight, McDaniels borrowed a semi-automatic handgun from an acquaintance on the street and fired about seven shots at Traylor, striking him twice in his back and once in his chest.
Nunez told jurors that they should find McDaniels not guilty because she thinks the witnesses weren’t believable and arguing that the prosecution didn’t prove that McDaniels was the shooter.
Nunez also said there isn’t any fingerprint, DNA or phone record evidence that ties McDaniels to the crime.
Moriarty said McDaniels is “proud of his connection to Mead Avenue” because he has a large tattoo of “Mead” on his back.
Nunez admitted that McDaniels used to live in the area and deal drugs there but said he wasn’t there at the time of the shooting because he ad moved away and was living with his girlfriend and their son in San Pablo.
McDaniels has four previous convictions: two for possession of cocaine base for sale, one for selling a controlled substance and one for evading a police officer. His drug convictions are for dealing drugs in the Mead Avenue area.
Nunez said Traylor also had been convicted of selling drugs in the area.
Moriarty said McDaniels still dealt drugs in the area after he was released from prison and the fact that he never went back there after the shooting and moved to Rancho Cordova in the Sacramento area was “flight” and shows that he knew he was guilty of murdering Traylor.
McDaniels was arrested in Rancho Cordova on June 17, 2014, almost a year after the shooting.
Because of his prior record, McDaniels faces a potential term of life in state prison when he is sentenced.