Oakland murder trial will center on three human teeth picked up off the pavement

OAKLAND — On July 10, 2021, an Oakland cannabis dispensary owner named Halia Gebrezghi was robbed and fatally shot while he walked to his truck wearing a diamond chain and a Rolex watch.

Now, exactly two years after Gebrezghi’s death, the trial for his alleged killer has begun. And the defendant’s fate may rest largely on three human teeth allegedly found on the bloody pavement where the deadly shootout occurred.

Edward Twine, 27, was arrested and charged in August 2021 with robbing and killing Gebrezghi, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors content that Twine and another man, whose identity remains a mystery, ran up to Gebrezghi with masks and guns, kicking off a chaotic series of events that ended with Gebrezghi grabbing his pistol and shooting one robber in the mouth before being killed by a bullet to the heart.

The three teeth were linked to Twine by a DNA test, and he showed up to San Francisco General Hospital later that evening, with a ski mask still rolled up on his head, according to police. His blood was also found at the shooting scene, and his injury coincides with video surveillance showing Gebrezghi’s killer stumble to the ground and run away after being shot, said Deputy District Attorney Maryam Ahmad.

But Twine’s attorneys aren’t ready to concede the case; they say that sloppy work by an Oakland crime scene technician caused a major screw-up that led to Twine being incorrectly identified as the killer.

“There’s no physical evidence tying Mr. Twine to the scene,” Deputy Public Defender Timothy Lyons confidently told jurors during his opening statement Monday morning.

Lyons said that 39 Oakland police employees processed the Gebrezghi homicide scene, including a technician who carried a camera attached to her neck by a harness. But none of the photographs from that night show teeth on the ground, or with evidence placards next to them. The only picture available showing Twine’s alleged teeth was a close-up that made their actual location unclear, he said.

Lyons added that Gebrezghi was leaving a warehouse containing an “unlicensed marijuana grow operation” when he was robbed.

Gebrezghi was killed around 10:20 p.m. July 10, while walking to his car on the 1200 block of 52nd Avenue in Oakland. Video surveillance footage — caught on four different cameras in the area — show two masked robbers run up on him with guns drawn.

According to Ahmad, Gebrezghi had witnessed what was going on from down the street and pulled up in his own vehicle to help, gunning the motor loudly in an attempt to scare the robbers off. One of the two gunmen turned and fled as Gebrezghi’s got there, while the other ended up in a shootout with Gebrezghi, who reached into his pickup truck and grabbed a gun.

It was during that exchange of gunfire that Gebrezghi was shot in the heart and the suspect — whom authorities contend was Twine — took a bullet to the face, which knocked out three of Twine’s teeth, Ahmad said. The video shows the robber briefly collapse to the ground but then get to his feet and run away as Gebrezghi’s brother picks one of the pistols off the ground and fires.

To drive home her point, Ahmad casually walked to the court clerk’s desk, and grabbed a clear plastic evidence bag containing the teeth. She walked down the jury box with the bag held aloft, giving each of the jurors a chance to gaze upon it.

“At the end of this case, I will ask you to return the only just verdict,” Ahmad said when she’d returned to her podium, adding that she expected Twine to be convicted of murder, robbery and three counts related to the possession of guns and ammunition.