Devonya Thurston, a 25-year-old Black man, was described by his mother as her rock. Friends and family remembered the Oakland rapper, known as "1 KTM Parkboiii," as a loving, supportive, funny, and humble person. His death was the second time in just over three years that his family was shattered by gun violence. In May 2021, his sister, Alayasia Heaven Thurston, was shot and killed on a party bus, a loss that was especially hard on her brother.
On the afternoon of July 1, 2024, Devonya
was inside the Go Go Amigo Market at 105th Avenue and E Street in East Oakland. Surveillance footage captured a tense interaction between him and another man, Josiah Dempsey. Dempsey attempted to shake Devonya’s hand, but Devonya refused, telling him, “it’s not cool.” According to testimony, Devonya then briefly left the store and returned. When he blocked Dempsey’s path to the exit, Dempsey pulled an assault rifle from his pants and shot Devonya six times, fatally wounding him.
The Oakland Police Department investigated the homicide, and in August 2024, authorities announced an arrest. The California Highway Patrol apprehended Josiah Dempsey, then 20 years old, on a probable cause warrant for murder in connection with Devonya’s death. Dempsey was charged with murder, but the case faced legal challenges from the start.
At a preliminary hearing, a judge expressed “real concerns” about the strength of the murder charge, noting that while it was easy to surmise why Devonya had left the store and returned, the defense argued he had gone to retrieve a weapon. The judge ultimately allowed the charge to stand by a “razor thin” margin, but the case would not proceed to a jury trial. Instead, prosecutors and Dempsey’s attorney negotiated a resolution.
In December 2025, Dempsey pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of carrying a concealed firearm. As part of the plea agreement, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office dropped the murder charge against him. On January 20, 2026, Dempsey was formally sentenced to a three-year term for the gun charge. With credit for the time he had already served in jail awaiting trial, he was released. As of that date, the case was closed with no one convicted of murder for Devonya Thurston's death.
