Marcel Dupree Jones, 37, was fatally shot in 2024 at the Ursula Sherman Village shelter in Berkeley, where he lived with Mark Christopher Dowling, 63. Dowling was held to answer for Jones’ murder and for a special allegation that the killing was a hate crime. At a preliminary hearing, testimony from Dowling and Jones’ fellow shelter residents described tense interactions in the days before the Aug. 25, 2024 shooting. A roommate, Antoine Rufus, described Jones as optimistic and focused on rebuilding his life, including a pre-apprenticeship program and plans for construction work. Rufus testified that Dowling threatened Black residents, including statements about shooting someone if they tried to slap him, and other confrontations involving Rufus.
"Marcel Dupree Jones, 37, was fatally shot in 2024 at the Ursula Sherman Village shelter, where he lived with the man accused of killing him. That man, Mark Christopher Dowling, 63, has been held to answer on a murder charge in the killing. Credit: GoFundMe The man accused of the racially motivated murder of his roommate in a Berkeley shelter got into tense arguments with other Black shelter residents and threatened to shoot them before the 2024 killing, according to another roommate who witnessed it."
"Dowling has pleaded not guilty to the charge. Antoine Rufus, who witnessed the shooting, remembered Jones as a funny, bright, kind of optimistic dude. Rufus had shared a dorm with Dowling, Jones and others at Ursula Sherman Village, also known as Harrison House, at 711 Harrison St. Jones and Rufus had some disagreements over politics, but I had a lot of respect for him because he was going to school so that he could take care of his children, Rufus said."
"At the time he was killed Jones was a week away from graduating from a pre-apprenticeship program through an Oakland-based nonprofit, hoping to find work in construction. Rufus testified about several incidents where Dowling, who is white, threatened Black shelter residents. In one, Rufus testified, a Black resident threatened to slap Dowling after he said he had hired a Black whore. According to Rufus, Dowling responded, If you try to slap me or you do slap me, I will put a bullet in your ass."
Read at www.berkeleyside.org
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