Oakland man charged with murder in connection with March shooting

OAKLAND — A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting in March, and police say they matched shells at that scene to another shooting three hours later, in which a 9-year-old boy was injured.

The allegations were made in charging records against Melvin Hines III, who is facing charges of murdering Eric Chavis-Reshard Jr., 32, and wounding another man during the same shooting. Hines is not facing any charges related to the shooting that injured the boy in another part of Oakland, hours later.

Police say Chavis-Reshard was shot and killed around 5 p.m. on March 3, on the 1800 block of 88th Avenue. Surveillance footage showed a green Pontiac leaving the scene, investigators wrote in court records.

Hours later, Hines was detained after getting into a police chase with officers who’d spotted him in another car leaving the scene of a shooting on the 8800 block of Plymouth Street, where a 9-year-old boy was injured, police wrote in court records.

Authorities say shell casings found at that shooting matched those at the Chavis-Reshard shooting, as well as casings found in a subsequent search of Hines’ home. When interviewed, Hines denied being involved in the shooting or driving the Pontiac that night.

Hines has pleaded not guilty and remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on a no-bail hold. His next court date is a preliminary hearing, where a judge will review evidence against him and decide if there is enough to let the case go on. That has been tentatively set for Jan. 13.