OAKLAND — The Feb. 11 shooting death of a 26-year-old man here may have been an act of vigilante justice, according to police, who recently arrested the victim’s brother on suspicion of murder.
Ramon Watkins, 37, has been charged with murder in the shooting death of 26-year-old Jimmy Mullins, who was gunned down as he sat inside Mr. Phone Repair on International Boulevard, seeking to replace a cellphone that had been seized by police. Mullins was a longtime suspect in the July 22, 2022 killing of Ramon Watkins’ brother, Jamal Watkins, 33, but he avoided criminal charges until his death.
Police say they have ample evidence that Ramon Watkins was well aware of Mullins’ alleged involvement in the killing, which was in part due to Mullins own reported admissions. Another relative of Jamal Watkins told police he had served time with Mullins in a San Francisco jail and that Mullins bragged about killing Jamal — when the alleged statement made it back to Ramon, the relative said he tried to talk Ramon out of avenging his brother.
Mullins death may have been inadvertently brought about by an ill-timed arrest. While he was known to be armed — with firearm convictions in four of the past five years — police raided his home and seized three guns and his phone a month earlier. When Mullins was killed, he was sitting inside the store, waiting for a new phone, and unarmed, authorities said.
Jamal Watkins, a security guard and father of four, was shot and crashed his Hyundai on the 8200 block of E Street in Oakland. Surveillance footage showed a man firing repeatedly into the car, even after Watkins was struck by gunfire, and that a second person engaged in a shootout with the suspect.
While police were processing the homicide scene, Mullins was arriving at an Oakland hospital with a gunshot wound. He was immediately considered a suspect in the shooting, given the timing of events, but refused to talk about it, court records show.
Police arrested him on an outstanding gun possession warrant, but he was never charged in Watkins’ death, court records show.
Ramon Watkins had previously been arrested on suspicion of murdering Mullins, back in March, but he was subsequently released without charges. Then, on Aug. 4, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office decided it had enough evidence to convict him.
Watkins has been charged with murder, gun possession by a felon, and two counts of dissuading a witness, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty and is next due in court on Aug. 20 for a preliminary hearing where a judge will determine if there’s enough evidence to let the charges stand.
In the meantime. Watkins is at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, being held without bail. He has prior convictions for evading police and assault, according to the criminal complaint.