‘He shed very sincere and real tears’: Oakland man acquitted in hectic gas station shootout that killed bystander

Woman’s trial severed

OAKLAND — An Alameda County jury has acquitted an Oakland man of murder and attempted murder in a 2022 shootout at a local gas station that killed a bystander and paralyzed a woman with gunshot wounds.

Stavon Moore, 29, did not deny killing 64-year-old Rodney Davis or paralyzing 22-year-old Tyja Braswell in the shootout. He claimed, however, that his actions were the direct result of Braswell reaching into her fanny pack to pull her pistol out and attempt to murder Moore, and that he only fired his gun as a last resort.

Moore was convicted of felony gun possession, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. He’ll almost certainly get credit for the 18 months he spent in jail awaiting trial when he’s sentenced for that.

The verdict, announced on Monday, brought to a close a two-week trial in which surveillance footage captured nearly all of the relevant conduct. Moore testified in his own defense, expressing regret for Davis’ death but insisting that if he had not acted, he would have died.

“Mr. Moore has expressed tremendous sympathy toward the loss of Mr. Davis,” Moore’s lawyer, Ernie Castillo, said over the phone. “He shed very sincere and real tears on the stand when he testified.”

The shooting on March 19, 2022 at the Royal Gas Station at 10151 International Blvd. resulted in murder charges being filed against not only Moore, but also Braswell, who was paralyzed in the shooting and remains in a wheelchair. Tamia Foster, Moore’s significant other, was also charged with felony charges, but she accepted a plea deal that allowed her to avoid jail.

A guilty verdict would have resulted in a life sentence with no chance of parole for Moore. Prosecutors portrayed him as a reckless aggressor who unloaded a pistol in a crowded gas station without regard for who he hit.

Braswell was seen openly selling drugs within the camera’s view, and it just so happened that Davis and Foster’s aunt, Mattie Flowers, were both customers of hers. Flowers dialed her sister’s number to request a ride from the gas station, and Moore, Foster, and Foster’s mother answered. According to the video, Flowers and Moore were filling up their van when an argument erupted.

Flowers returned to the van to retrieve a pistol after Braswell allegedly brandished a gun at her, but Moore intervened and took the pistol from her. When Moore starts shooting his gun, Braswell is attempting to open her fanny pack. Moore, according to Castillo, was attempting to defuse tensions before Braswell pulled a gun on him.

Moore ducked for cover as Braswell returned fire, according to authorities, and then fired several more shots, killing Davis and paralyzing Braswell. According to testimony, as Braswell fell to the ground and screamed for help, onlookers ran up to her and stole drug baggies from her fanny pack. A friend of hers arrived a few minutes later, grabbed her pistol from the ground, and left. Police apprehended him and recovered the gun.

Braswell and Moore were scheduled to go to trial together, but both defense attorneys successfully petitioned to have their cases separated. That means Braswell will almost certainly face a jury trial soon, unless she and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office reach an agreement.

Flowers, a defendant in a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter case, died before the trial, but Castillo had her prior testimony read into the record to help the defense case.

“Today’s verdict sends a message to lower income communities that self-defense laws apply to them as well,” Castillo said in a press release.