Oakland man guilty of 2018 mother-daughter double murder in Antioch

MARTINEZ — A Contra Costa County jury has convicted a man of murdering an Antioch mother and daughter after a relationship split in 2018, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

The verdict in Superior Court against 40-year-old Dontay Williams, of Oakland, came on Nov. 9, DA’s spokesperson Ted Asregadoo said in a statement. Williams faces the possibility of life without parole when he’s sentenced on an unspecified future date.

The murders of Valinda Rose Scott, 55, and her daughter, Milan Ardoin, 28, happened about 4:30 a.m. on July 5, 2018. The jury found that Williams traveled from Oakland to the women’s Antioch residence in the 4400 block of Delta Fair Boulevard after Ardoin communicated via email her desire to split with him.

Once he arrived at the home, he shot both of them. Ardoin died at the scene; Scott, 55, was taken to a hospital and died later that day. Police identifed Williams as a suspect on the day of the shooting and arrested him several days later in Oakland.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Tompkins in a statement said the convictions were needed “for the loved ones who lost two family members in one tragic morning and who waited years for their day in court. This verdict is a chance to move forward in their long healing process.”

A key piece of evidence in the trial proved to be Williams’ wallet. According to Asregadoo, officers found it on the sidewalk close to where the murders occurred while canvassing the neighborhood and talking to witnesses.

The two murder convictions came with enhancements, because the jury agreed Williams shot the gun on purpose after lying in wait and murdered more than one person, Asregadoo said. He added that the jury also convicted Williams of possessing a gun after having a prior violent conviction for an Oakland robbery in 2005.

Ardoin was a UCLA graduate and pursuing a doctorate when the shootings happened. She left behind a 4-year-old son. Scott was the youngest of nine children and used that support network while raising Ardoin and working.