East Oakland’s harsh realities on full display at start of trial over gas station shootout that killed bystander

OAKLAND — On the night of March 19, 2022, 24-year-old Tamia Foster was standing in line at a gas station cashier booth on International Boulevard when set her bag down a little too close to 22-year-old Tyja Braswell’s bag.

The two argued, and within minutes, the gas station would erupt in gunfire, killing bystander Rodney Davis, 64, and leaving Braswell paralyzed from multiple gunshot wounds. Now, 19 months later, Foster’s fiancé is on trial facing charges of murdering Davis and attempting to murder Braswell, allegations his attorney says will be disproved by a closer look at surveillance footage from that night.

Stavon Moore, 29, escaped injury that night, but was arrested days later after police used security footage from the Royal Gas Station at 10151 International Boulevard to identify him as the person who killed Davis and shot Braswell. Braswell has also been charged with murdering Davis and attempting to kill Moore, but will be tried separately after both defense attorneys argued it would be unfair to place two people who allegedly tried to kill one another before the same jury.

Foster took a plea deal and a suspended prison sentence that allows for her to attend a residential treatment program in lieu of prison.

At the start of Moore’s trial, attorneys went through the blow-by-blow of the night in painstaking detail, revealing not just new aspects of the homicide but a glimpse into day to day life in East Oakland, where a simple trip to the gas station turned deadly.

Davis and Foster showed up in a white van that night with their child and Foster’s mom to pick up Foster’s aunt — who has since died — after she called them for a ride. Braswell was already at the station because it was a convenient place to sell drugs from, said Moore’s attorney, who added that surveillance footage showed Davis waiting for Braswell to hand him a baggie of white powder, which tragically placed him right in the line of fire.

To Deputy District Attorney Cathryn Dalton, the case comes down to this: Moore opened fire in a crowded area, “without care for any of the bystanders who were at that gas station,” and continued to shoot after one errant round struck Davis, a local resident and Army veteran who went by “Hot Rod.”

“(Moore) put everyone and everything at the gas station in harm’s way,” Dalton said during her opening statements to jurors. After the shooting, Moore left in the same white van he’d arrived in and disposed of the murder weapon, Dalton said.

But Moore’s lawyer, Ernie Castillo, showed jurors a section of security footage that showed Braswell reaching into her fanny pack for a gun. It was only after seeing this that Moore fired, Castillo said. Before that, Castillo added, Moore was acting as a peacemaker, and was only holding the gun because he followed Foster to where she and Braswell were arguing and took the pistol out of Foster’s hand to prevent her from using it.

“At that moment, Stavon decided his life was in danger, his family was in danger,” Castillo said, later adding, “She wasn’t reaching into her bag for candy, members of the jury. She was trying to kill Mr. Moore that night.”

After Braswell returned fire, Moore ducked behind the blue cashier’s booth, then realized that Braswell was standing between him and the white van where his family members remained. So he let loose a second volley of gunfire, striking Braswell multiple times. She fell to the ground and screamed for help as Moore made a dash for the van and got away, video shows.

Another man — a friend of Braswell’s who she allegedly called during the argument with Foster — arrived in time to grab Braswell’s pistol and leave, but police caught up with him and found the firearm, Dalton said. Using a process of elimination, technicians tested shells at the scene, linked some of them to Braswell’s gun, and concluded the remaining majority of the shots were fired by Moore, she said.

After Braswell fell to the ground with injuries that permanently paralyzed her, multiple onlookers ran towards her as she continued to scream for assistance. But they didn’t come help or even check to see if she was ok. Instead, they grabbed all the baggies of drugs inside her fanny pack and scrambled away before the cops got there, Castillo said.

“It’s a rough part of town,” Castillo said.