PAROLEE HELD IN SLAYING OF ANTIOCH TEEN

Conflict Started With $12 Marijuana Debt

ANTIOCH - A parolee was arrested Monday night in the March
shooting death of an Antioch teenager that police said was the
culmination of a dispute that started with a $12 drug debt.

Police say [name redacted], 22, who lives in Antioch and
Brentwood, was the gunman, but that he was not involved in any of the
conflicts that preceded the killing of 16-year-old Mark Knight.

"At this time, it appears he was just an onlooker, and it is not clear
why he was compelled to shoot at the car," Lt. Leonard Orman said.

Knight was shot the night of March 25 in the parking lot of an
apartment complex in the 3900 block of Delta Fair Boulevard, near
Somersville Towne Center. He was with relatives who had been arguing
with another group at the complex - where neither lived - when
Knight's group decided to leave, police said. As they were driving
away, several shots were fired at them, and one of the bullets
penetrated the vehicle's back window and struck Knight in the head,
killing him.

[name redacted] was booked into County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of
murder. He was also booked on a separate warrant for being a felon in
possession of a firearm, and was already on parole for a robbery conviction.

Scores of interviews led detectives to suspect [name redacted] in the
shooting, police said. Antioch and Brentwood police stopped and
arrested him Monday night as he drove away from his mother's home in
the [address redacted] block of Thomas Road in Brentwood. They also served
a search warrant on the home but did not
find evidence related to the shooting.

Police said Knight's group and
another group of males had been arguing for at least two weeks over a
$12 marijuana debt. Family members and police said a cousin of
Knight's had gotten into a fight with someone in the other group
earlier that evening at the Somersville mall.

Under questioning, [name redacted] admitted to shooting at the car Knight was
in, police said. [name redacted] also told police that he was present for the
earlier fight and the argument at the apartment complex, Orman said.
But while he was associated with the group feuding with Knight's
relatives, he was not actually involved.

"He really had no stake in any of it," Orman said. "We're not sure if
he knew what the dispute was about."

Robert Salonga covers public safety.