Four years after her son’s killing at a bus stop near his South Berkeley home, Carol Jones is still praying for answers.
Patrick Demarco Scott Jr., a 27-year-old disabled man who lived with Jones and his teenage brother near California Street, was fatally shot Feb. 3, 2018, while waiting at his regular bus stop. His mother rushed him to the hospital but he did not survive.
Authorities have offered a $30,000 reward to help solve the case.
“The FBI has not identified a motive in this case. We believe that Mr. Scott’s murder was a senseless act of violence and that he was an innocent victim,” the FBI San Francisco Division said Thursday in a prepared statement. “We encourage members of the public to come forward with any tips that may lead to the arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for his murder to find justice for his family.”
Scott was waiting at the bus stop at 62nd and Market streets in Oakland when “An unknown person approached him and fired multiple shots, fatally striking him,” authorities have said. He had been on his way to his grandmother’s house. It was his typical routine.
Jones remembers her son as affable and playful. He “ambled about like a child” half his years, she told Berkeleyside. Since his death, she said, she has struggled with the persistent anxiety of waiting for the resolution that would come with the announcement of an arrest in the case.
In a prepared statement, Jones referenced the Bible character, Isaiah, who asked, “How long, Lord, how long?” Jones “joins other brooding mothers in echoing Isaiah’s plea,” she wrote: “Lord, how long?”
The FBI has offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible for Scott’s death, and Oakland Crime Stoppers has offered an additional reward of up to $10,000.
Authorities ask anyone with information about this case to call the Oakland Police Department Homicide Section at 510-238-3821 or the FBI San Francisco Division at 415-553-7400 or online at tips.fbi.gov. All tips may remain anonymous.
