Vallejo Man Charged in Shooting of Council Prez's Grandson

OAKLAND - A 19-year-old Vallejo man has been charged with murder for aiding and abetting a 15-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of the grandson of Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney during a robbery last month, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Shiheim Johnson, 19, was arrested last Thursday in connection with the killing of 17-year-old Torian Hughes. He was charged Friday with murder, robbery and two counts of unlawful use of a firearm, prosecutors said. Oakland police said in court filings that Johnson and the 15-year-old, whose name has not been released because of his age, met Hughes and a friend in the 900 block of Mandela Parkway at about 1:40 p.m. on Dec. 20.

The two suspects had told Hughes they would sell him a gun, but instead pulled guns on the other two teens and tried to rob them. Johnson took a cellphone and cash from Hughes’ friend but Hughes resisted the robbery and the 15-year-old suspect shot him, according to police. Hughes, who briefly attended McClymonds High School and was in an independent study program as of December, died at a hospital shortly after the shooting, police said. Johnson and the 15-year-old fled after the shooting.

The 15-year-old was arrested earlier this month and was charged as a juvenile. Johnson remained free until Jan. 20, when police spotted him in the 1000 block of 21st Street, police said. Johnson allegedly tried to run and police saw him with a gun, but he was safely arrested a few blocks away in the 1900 block of Linden Street. Police said they found his gun as well.

Johnson has a prior conviction for robbery in 2012 and is prohibited from owning a gun. He was arraigned on the murder charge on Friday and is being held at Santa Rita Jail without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 22 to possibly enter a plea, according to court records.

-Bay City News, image via ShutterStock