Arrests made in 2018 El Sobrante homicide, robbery of rapper Lil Baby’s entourage member in Walnut Creek
Three suspected North Richmond gang members were charged with conspiracy and murder, court records show.
MARTINEZ — Three people have been charged with murdering a man in 2018 over conflicts between the Norteños and North Richmond gangs, as well as an incident where a member of a famous rapper’s entourage was robbed and shot, court records show.
Deanzer A. Clark, 35 and Joseaphus Goodwin III, 39, have been charged with conspiring to murder 28-year-old Mario Ambriz Jr., who was shot 10 times outside an El Sobrante bar last year. The charging documents allege that the killing was in part retaliation for a nearly identical 2014 homicide at a bar in Pinole.
In addition to the murder count, Goodwin and Gerald W. Robinson Jr., 45, have been charged with conspiracy, robbery and attempted murder in connection with a March 23 shooting in Walnut Creek. The charging records accuse them of following a Georgia man who had come to California with the Atlanta-based rapper Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Jones.
During the investigation, police took screenshots from Lil Baby’s Instagram account showing the robbery victim with the rapper outside a private jet in Las Vegas. It is believed the group was in the Bay Area for Lil Baby’s New Generation Tour, which had March shows in Oakland and San Francisco.
Goodwin and Robinson are suspected of following the victim — a man in his 20s — through Walnut Creek, discussing how he had “hella money” and waiting for their moment of opportunity, according to the charging records. They allegedly waited for him to leave Ruth’s Chris Steak House, then pulled guns and told him to take off his jewelry.
The victim was shot in the shoulder during a struggle. He was treated at a hospital that night and released.
The robbers made off with the victim’s earrings and a bracelet worth $7,500, police said. Prosecutors allege Robinson searched online for information on the police investigation afterward.
Authorities say all three defendants are affiliated with the Project Trojans gang, which is based in North Richmond.
Conflict involving San Pablo Norteños
Ambriz was shot and killed June 30, 2018, at the parking lot of the Somewhere Else Bar and Grill, located at 5216 Sobrante Ave. The charging records identify him as a Norteño gang member who was part of a clique centered in San Pablo.
It is the same Norteño subset that David Arce was a member of in February 2014, when he shot and killed 30-year-old Earl Hamilton Jr. outside the now-defunct Green Lantern Bar in Pinole. Hamilton, who was with a group of North Richmond residents, begged for his life as Arce shot him execution-style outside the bar, witnesses testified during Arce’s 2017 trial. Arce was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Hamilton’s killing was preceded by a conflict in the bar between Arce, at least two other Norteños, and the group Hamilton was with. Prosecutors argued that Arce arranged for a cohort to get a gun and bring it back to the bar so he could shoot someone in Hamilton’s group.
The charging records against Goodwin and Clark make mention of Hamilton’s killing, and say that Clark was with Hamilton at the Green Lantern that night, and was a pallbearer at Hamilton’s funeral.
On June 30, Clark, Goodwin and several other alleged North Richmond gang members were hanging out at the Somewhere Else Bar and Grill, celebrating the birthday of a dead “fellow North Richmond gang member,” who is not identified in court documents. At some point in the evening, they recognized Ambriz as a friend of Arce’s. Ambriz was with “another Norteño accomplice and a second friend,” the charging documents say.
At some point, Clark left the bar, authorities said. Meanwhile, Ambriz tried to maintain a low profile, pulling his hoodie over his face and going outside a short time later.
The charging records allege that Goodwin kept his eyes on Ambriz, and got on the phone, while other uncharged co-conspirators watched the bar’s two entrances.
“After approximately 30 minutes, Deanzer Clark returns to the Somewhere Else Bar with a pistol,” Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Chad Mahalich wrote in the charging records. He and Goodwin then allegedly had a brief conversation inside.
When Ambriz headed back toward the bar’s entrance, Clark shot him 10 times, killing him, then left the area “immediately,” the charging records allege.
Robinson was arrested Tuesday and the other two defendants were taken into custody last week. They have not yet entered a plea, and remain in county jail.