Hayward: Man convicted of BART train murder

Sentencing set for February

DUBLIN — According to court records, a San Francisco man was found guilty of murder and using a knife in connection with a fatal stabbing on a BART train in Hayward in 2019.

Jermain Jeremiah Brim, 43, was convicted on Oct. 4 of stabbing to death Oliver T. Williams, 49, also known as Tyrone Hodges. Brim’s sentencing date has been tentatively set for February, and he is expected to receive a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Williams was stabbed to death as a BART train approached Hayward on November 19, 2019. After Brim allegedly attempted to steal a sleeping passenger’s shoes and Williams intervened, the two began arguing and fighting. According to court records, it was Williams who first pulled a knife, only to be disarmed and stabbed to death with his own weapon.

A forensic pathologist testified during Brim’s trial that Williams had eight stab wounds.

Brim’s attorney argued that the stabbing was in self-defense, painting Williams as the aggressor who “inserted himself” into the situation, and claiming that video shows the two struggling over to the knife just before the stabbing. The defense also filed a Racial Justice Act motion, claiming that the prosecution “singled out the sole Black man juror in the jury box and went on to attack his credibility,” and that prosecutors overcharged Brim, who is Black.

Brim’s prosecution, a former Kaiser Permanente janitor, was stalled for years due to concerns about his mental competency for trial. Brim’s competency was called into question by his attorney in 2020, prompting a mandatory review by mental health professionals. Brim was initially charged with crimes that qualified him for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, as well as carjacking a man in an attempt to flee a BART station.