OAKLAND — A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to 17 years for killing a woman in a 2020 shooting, where two vehicles blocked off the victims’ pathway and two shooters riddled their car with bullets, court records show.
Dewaun Poole was sentenced to 17 years in state prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, court records show. While Poole was one of several suspects in the December 2019 killing of 35-year-old Brandi Barnes, he was the only one to face murder charges. A second man believed to be involved was also arrested, but ended up testifying under a prosecution grant of immunity, court records show.
Barnes and a man were driving down Courtland Avenue in Oakland when they were ambushed on the 2200 block, court records show. The man survived the shooting. Poole allegedly later told a person that his gun had “two bodies” on it and that he was attempting to “finish off” both victims when his firearm jammed.
Poole’s DNA was found on shell casings at the shooting scene and GPS records from his phone placed him there too, prosecutors said in court filings.
Undercover cops arrested Poole near an apartment in San Francisco, in 2020. He gave an interview where he denied ever going to Oakland or involvement with the second suspect, who later testified against Poole. Police found a gun on Poole during his arrest but determined it wasn’t the weapon that killed Barnes, court records show.
Poole is currently incarcerated at Calipatria State Prison.
