Brentwood man was caught up in Oakland couple’s deadly breakup, testimony reveals

OAKLAND — A 28-year-old father of two who was shot and killed inside a parked car two years ago may have unwittingly stumbled into a heated breakup between two teenagers, one of whom allegedly showed up with a shotgun to settle a score, court records show.

Kenyetta Chapman, of Brentwood, was fatally shot Jan. 21, 2024, in a white Scion that was parked outside a fast food restaurant on the 2400 block of East 24th Street in Oakland. Now, testimony has revealed that Chapman’s suspected killer, Juliese Lawson, 20, of Pacheco, had previously been threatened by the then-19-year-old woman he allegedly showed up there to shoot.

Lawson and the young woman had been arguing for weeks over the ownership of a Toyota Camry. They sent each other heated texts where Lawson threatened to find other romantic partners and the woman threatened to kill him, according to court filings. Video from the shooting shows Lawsom approaching the Scion, looking inside, then retrieving a shotgun — allegedly from his 20-year-old co-defendant, Jamal Watts. He then returned and sprayed the Scion with gunfire, authorities say.

“There’s a total possibility that Kenyatta Chapman was caught in the middle of something that he wasn’t even aware of,” defense lawyer Curtis Briggs, who represents Lawson, said at the March preliminary hearing. But he added that Lawson’s then-girlfriend, “for weeks was threatening to kill Mr. Lawsom, threatening to have people from the neighborhood where the shooting happened run up on Mr. Lawson, appear at his workplace.”

Chapman’s funeral was held in February at a Richmond church. His eulogy describes him as an ambitious family man known for his “sweetness, intelligence, caring nature, and striking handsomeness,” who worked two jobs to support his family, including two sons.

It is unclear how Chapman and the woman knew one another. She would later tell police they hung out for much of that day, drank alcohol and smoked marijuana, and ended up asleep in the Scion.

In the end, Briggs argued, Lawson was “lured” to the area by the woman and then saw something in the car that must have made him overcome with emotion.

“When you think about the dramatic emotional dimensions that my 18-year-old client is going through with the woman that he loves, it’s intense. It’s extreme,” Briggs said.

The woman told police she was asleep in the vehicle with Chapman, and that she awoke to the sound of gunfire. When she realized she was being shot at, she scampered off, jumping into a backyard for safety. Police say she was wounded but later denied knowing who shot her or why anyone would want to. A police homicide investigator testified that detectives caught her in several lies, including her denial that she had seen the Toyota before, and later confronted her with them.

A man who was allegedly with Lawson and Watts that day testified that he saw Watts hand over a bag containing the shotgun. Watts’ lawyer argued that prosecutors hadn’t proved Watts knew there was a gun in the bag.

Nine days after the shooting, Watts was questioned by Oakland police as a person of interest in an armed robbery. In that incident, the victim was accosted by two men who demanded valuables. One of them shot the victim, but he was saved by a miraculous coincidence; gardening clippers he had in a shirt pocket blocked a bullet that would have hit him in the chest, police say. Watts was questioned that same night, but police didn’t arrest him.

Judge Clifford Blakely, who presided over the preliminary hearing, said video leaves little doubt as to the killer’s intent. He held both men to answer on murder charges. They’re next due in court in June, and no trial date has been set, records show.

“He’s not scared. He’s not fleeing in self-defense,” Blakely said, referring to Lawson. “There’s no direct threat that’s evidenced by his actions. He walks back to the vehicle, stands within a foot of the vehicle and starts firing. That’s intent to kill. And then he runs back to the car and fires some more, and then they proceed to leave.”

As for Watts, Blakely said it “defies logic that he didn’t know what was in the bag.”

The charges were filed in March 2024, about two months after the shooting. Watts was arrested promptly, but Lawson avoided capture until May 2024, court records show. Both men are being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail.