Described by her family as “shy and goofy,” Alonna Gallon, 24, of Richmond, was killed by her son’s father, Lamar Walker, authorities say.
Alex N. Gecan
Alex N. Gecan joined Berkeleyside in 2023 as a senior reporter covering public safety. He has covered criminal justice, courts and breaking and local news for The Middletown Press, Stamford Advocate and Connecticut Post in Connecticut, Asbury Park Press on the Jersey Shore and the Marin Independent Journal.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Berkeley High School students had guns in backpacks, district says
“While we have no evidence of any threats made to students or staff, nor of either gun being brandished on campus, these are deeply concerning incidents,” BUSD spokesperson Trish McDermott said in an email.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Man charged with murdering his mother in Berkeley Hills stabbing case
A complaint against Jonah Jeremiah Roper named the woman he killed as Maura Claire Ghizzoni, who was identified in records of his previous criminal cases as his mother.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Overlook Road stabbing homicide suspect held without bail
Jonah Jeremiah Roper, 36, was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, child abuse, elder abuse, auto theft and burglary, according to jail records.
Posted inCrime
Overlook Road stabbings leave 1 dead, 2 injured, Berkeley police say
Officers chased the suspect to 9th and Gilman streets and made an arrest. The suspect was taken to city jail.
Posted inCrime
Toyota of Berkeley shooting in Albany was domestic violence, authorities say
Little information was available a day after the shooting at the car dealership but the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the initial shooting was “an act of domestic violence.”
Posted inCrime & Safety
Man suspected of killing woman at Toyota of Berkeley is dead after shootout with Berkeley police
Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Jessica Perry said several officers exchanged gunfire with a suspect at the car dealership. The victim was a woman who worked there, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Berkeley man accused of shooting maintenance worker met him days before, police say
The suspect, an apartment tenant, told police he believed the worker he’d shot was a burglar, but the two men had met five days earlier during a different repair job, police said.
Posted inCrime & Safety
BPD investigates 2nd shooting in as many days
Police investigated a shooting in South Berkeley a day after another incident in the Southside.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Berkeley resident shoots maintenance worker, mistaking him for a burglar, police say
The tenant made a maintenance request that would have allowed the worker to enter his apartment if nobody was home, police said.
Posted inCity
100 years after Berkeley’s 1923 fire, another tragedy could be even likelier
Fire detection is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was. Some of the strategies of the last century, like fuel breaks, remain the same, however. But safety advocates warn the risk may be even higher.
Posted inCity
Berkeley’s fire of 1923 gave way to a commercial free-for-all
The East Bay had already lost businesses to poor water systems by 1923. When the fire struck, residents turned on their hoses to find no water coming out. Afterward some businesses offered relief as others sought to cash in.
