OAKLAND — After his son and 16-month old grandson were fatally shot in August 2013 as they slept at an East Oakland home, Melvin C. Johnson Jr. pleaded for the community to “stop the violence” and “put the guns down.”
On Tuesday, Johnson, 39, also became a victim of deadly violence and gunfire.
Johnson was fatally shot about 1:11 p.m. Tuesday as he drove on 89th Avenue in East Oakland, not far from where a street shrine to his son and grandson had been erected after their deaths at 90th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.
Despite his wounds he was able to drive to the 8500 block of MacArthur, where he crashed into some parked cars near Castlemont High School.
Oakland police alerted by ShotSpotter gave him CPR at the scene, but he later died at a hospital. No motive has been released by police for the killing and no arrests made.
Johnson’s son, Andrew “Drew” Thomas, 20, and Thomas’ young son, Drew Leon Deon Jackson, were fatally shot August 7, 2013, by someone who fired into the rear of a Brookfield Village home on Ghormley Avenue at 2:46 a.m.
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Johnson had previously moved his son to Fresno to get him away from Oakland’s street violence, but Thomas and his son were in Oakland at the time for a birthday party and were staying with his aunt when they were killed.
The killings of Thomas and his son have not been solved, and up to $30,000 in reward money remains for information leading to the arrest of their killer.
Johnson’s mother, Carolyn Smith, spoke of her son Wednesday as a good person who redoubled his commitment to family in the face of a series of tragedies.
Smith said the family was still mourning Johnson’s 8-year-old son, Jahmel T. Johnson, who died Nov. 1 at Children’s Hospital Oakland after a battle with lymphoma.
And the memories of what happened to Johnson’s other son and grandson have never faded.
The family, Smith said, is handling the latest tragedy “very hard.”
“He helped everybody, he loved everybody,” Smith said. “He didn’t mess with nobody, he was like a big teddy bear. I’m not saying that because I was his mother, but because I know.”
Smith spoke with pride of Johnson’s Drewski Designs business, which made T-shirts and clothing for picnics, anniversaries, funerals and special events: “A lot of people called him, wanting him to make them this and that. He was changing his life, helping others.”
Smith said she was home in East Oakland on Tuesday when she learned of the shooting.
“Someone called my daughter. She was here, and I saw the expression in her face like something was happening,” Smith said. “Then she said, ‘Mama, let’s go. Melvin’s been shot,’ and we went to the scene, but he wasn’t there. They had taken him to Highland.”
Up to $10,000 in reward money is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Johnson’s killer. Anyone with information about the cases may call police at 510-238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
