Demariae Coleman, 23, of Oakland, known to his friends as "Pooka," was shot and killed at about 9:35 p.m. on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, while riding in a car in the 1200 block of 47th Avenue in Oakland. The Oakland Police Department investigated, and his death was the city's 99th homicide of 2012.
Coleman and a 24-year-old friend, also from Oakland, were driving on 47th Avenue when gunfire hit their car. Coleman was killed, and his friend was wounded.
A 30-year-old man in another car was also struck by the gunfire. Both wounded men recovered. Police said Coleman and his friend were the intended targets of more than one gunman, and that the man in the other car was an innocent bystander.
Police did not determine a motive and made no arrests. Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to arrests in the shooting.
Months later, the Bay Area News Group told Coleman's story through his best friend, Marquis Jones, who was trying to finish high school through Civicorps, an Oakland program for young adults. Coleman had insisted that Jones enroll, telling him he needed to dress well, show up on time and be a good student, and that he wanted his friend to find a way out of the hard life they had shared. Coleman was killed on the second day of Jones' orientation. Jones was inconsolable, but he refused to drop out and went back to class.
The 1200 block of 47th Avenue is in the flatlands of East Oakland, between International Boulevard and the Interstate 880 corridor. A car carrying two men being hunted by more than one gunman suggests that the shooters may have followed them or known where they would be.
Oakland was one of the most violent large cities in California in those years. The city recorded 148 homicides in 2006 and more than 100 in most years through 2013, and its police department solved far fewer of them than the statewide average. In 2010 and 2011, Oakland police cleared only about 30 percent of the city's homicides.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Demariae Coleman could be found in news archives or public records. More than 14 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Oakland from 2008 through 2017, lists the case as open with no arrest. The friend who survived, and the people who knew both young men, may know who wanted them dead in October 2012. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Oakland Police Department Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821 or the homicide tip line at (510) 238-7950, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Oakland at (510) 777-8572.
