Eric Pettyway was 51 years old when he was killed in Oakland on Friday, December 1, 2017. The Oakland Police Department investigated his death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Oakland through the end of 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest. His case also appears on public lists of Oakland Police Department cold cases.
Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Eric Pettyway has been made
public. No news story about his killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. 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.
His age stands out. At 51, he was older than most homicide victims in Oakland, and he likely had a long history in the city, with relatives, co-workers and old friends who may have heard something about what happened to him.
The location recorded in the Post's database places his death in West Oakland, the historic neighborhood west of downtown. People who lived in West Oakland in early December 2017 may remember the police activity that followed his death, in the first days of the holiday season.
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 Eric Pettyway could be found in news archives or public records. More than 8 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Eric Pettyway and saw him at the end of November or start of December 2017 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.
