Daryl James Manuel was 34 years old when he was killed in Oakland on Wednesday, September 7, 2016. The Oakland Police Department investigated his death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Oakland from 2008 through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Daryl James Manuel has been made public.
No news story about his killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account, and searches for his name turned up nothing beyond the database record. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how he was killed, whether he was attacked indoors or on the street, whether he knew his attacker, what time of day it happened, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
It is possible he was known by a nickname, or by only part of his name, which may be one reason so little about him can be found. People who knew him as Daryl, or by another name, may not realize his case was never solved.
The location recorded in the Post's database places his death in West Oakland, the historic neighborhood west of downtown near the Port of Oakland and the West Oakland BART station. People who lived in West Oakland in early September 2016 may remember the police activity that followed his death.
Oakland's killings had fallen from their peak earlier in the decade, when the city recorded 131 homicides in 2012, but the city still had one of the highest homicide rates in California, and its police department has long solved a smaller share of killings than the statewide average. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Daryl James Manuel could be found in news archives or public records. More than 10 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Daryl James Manuel and saw him in early September 2016 may be able to help. 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.
