Police arrest Oakland girl, 15, in man’s shooting death
By Harry Harris
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 04/19/2010 06:15:04 AM PDT
Updated: 04/19/2010 06:16:03 AM PDT

OAKLAND — A 15-year-old Oakland girl was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of murder in the shooting death of an 18-year-old Oakland man she was dating.

The victim was identified as Davante Riley. Police are not releasing the girl’s name because of her age.

The pair were at an East Oakland apartment early Sunday celebrating Riley’s birthday with others. He had turned 18 Saturday.

The shooting happened about 12:14 a.m. inside the apartment in the 2200 block of East 20th Street, Sgt. Mike Gantt said. Police arrived to find Riley suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to Highland Hospital, where he died at 12:47 a.m.

Police aren’t releasing details of the events that led to the shooting. The girl told police that she and Riley had met a couple of months ago through mutual friends, and that they had started dating about two weeks ago.

Police said the apartment belonged to a relative of Riley’s who was not present at the time of the shooting.

Jasmine Ario, 18, said she met Riley two years ago at a party in Oakland. She said news of his death spread quickly on Facebook, which was how she found out he had died. She said she couldn’t believe it because he was friendly and well liked by many.

“He made friends very well. There was something about his personality,” Ario said. “You would never see him mad or sad. Even if he was, he wouldn’t show.” Ario said that friends were considering holding a memorial tonight near the apartment where he was killed.

Ario said Riley attended Fremont High School in Oakland and later Bunche Academy, an Oakland continuation school.

The case will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office. The killing was Oakland’s 28th homicide of the year.

In an unrelated shooting Saturday night, a 15-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man suffered wounds that were not life threatening in an attack in the 1800 block of Adeline Street in West Oakland.

The shooting happened about 10:38 p.m. Saturday. The 15-year-old was hit in the arm and the 19-year-old in the buttocks, police said.

A 21-year-old man was being questioned Sunday morning in connection with the shooting. A motive has not been determined.