OAKLAND – An area resident has been found guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in reference to the 2020 shooting death of his former neighbor, a killing that exposed institutional failings and earned the victim's widow a multimillion-dollar settlement.
Jamal Thomas, 47, was convicted Tuesday of murdering 44-year-old Miles Armstead. The jury deliberated for a day before reaching the decision.
Armstead, an Oakland resident who left behind a pregnant wife, was shot and killed on May 1, 2020, while renovating his home in anticipation of his move. It was Thomas' harassment that prompted the couple to maneuver. Thomas has been arrested on nearly two dozen counts of harassing and threatening the couple or vandalizing their home. Among other things, he threw a brick through a window, nearly hitting Armstead's wife, court records show.
After being arrested for threatening the Armsteads, Thomas openly stated his intention to murder Armstead during an interrogation by police.
“Guess what, guys? I'll be right back,” Thomas told Oakland cops, in keeping with court documents. “And next time I'm going to kill him.”
Thomas was identified because the shooter by several neighbors. He had previously lived round the corner to Armstead but had moved out months earlier and continued to occupy the home. Others on the block were aware of his appearance, but Thomas's attorney wrote in court papers that a few of the witnesses identified the shooter as a person with long dreadlocks and that Thomas' hair was short when he was arrested.
The well-documented lead-up to the murder resulted in a lawsuit by Armstead's widow and a $2.4 million settlement paid by Alameda County and town of Oakland. The lawsuit alleged that the county's probation department and Oakland police missed warning signs and failed to answer a situation that was escalating toward violence.
Thomas is attributable to be sentenced in mid-August. He faces 25 years to life imprisonment for murder alone.
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