OAKLAND (KRON/BCN) — A reputed gang associate pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge stemming from the fatal shooting of a mural artist in Oakland in September.
Marquise Holloway, 21, is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on July 11 for a pretrial hearing in connection with the shooting death of 27-year-old Antonio Ramos of Emeryville in the 3500 block of West Street in Oakland at about 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 29.
Ramos was shot while he was working on a mural underneath an Interstate Highway 580 overpass that was part of the Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project, a collaboration between artists and local students.
Holloway is charged with murder and the special circumstance of committing a robbery during a murder, as well as three counts of second-degree robbery and two counts of attempted second-degree robbery for incidents on Sept. 29, the same day that Ramos was killed, and between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5.
Holloway shouted expletives and banged his head against a glass barrier when he was arraigned last Nov. 24 but was calm during his brief court appearance Monday.
Holloway has a prior conviction for second-degree robbery in August 2012.
When Holloway was arrested in November, Oakland police Lt. Roland Holmgren said Holloway is associated with a West Oakland gang called Ghost Town.
Oakland police said they believe the gun used in the killing of Ramos was stolen earlier in September from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in San Francisco.