Text message leads to murder charges in Oakland fatal shooting
A cell phone text led to an ex-convict being charged in an Oakland fatal shooting.
OAKLAND — A text message left on the cell phone of a man killed in Oakland helped lead investigators to the suspect, a 56-year-old ex-convict who has been charged with murder in the May 24 fatal shooting, according to authorities and court documents.
Edwin McNeal, has been charged in the killing of Charles Crutcher, 50, the East Oakland man who was fatally shot at the front door of a home in the 10300 block of Foothill Boulevard. McNeal has denied involvement in the killing, authorities said.
According to authorities, the two men were neighbors who lived in another part of East Oakland. Why they were at the Foothill residence when the shooting took place is still unknown.
In court documents, Oakland homicide investigator Officer Jason Turner said Crutcher had gone to the home to meet “Scooby” — a street name for McNeal — to complete a gun deal.
Crutcher was shot in the front doorway and the suspect then fled in a truck.
According to the documents, McNeal was tentatively identified as the shooter after authorities found a text McNeal sent to Crutcher’s phone, claiming he had been paid with counterfeit money for the gun.
McNeal was eventually positively identified as the suspect by at least one witness and police began seeking him. He was arrested by police in Fresno on June 5. In addition to the murder count, McNeal is also charged with felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the court documents, McNeal is being prosecuted under three strikes’ statutes, and has four prior felony convictions going back to 1988. They include robbery and kidnapping to commit robbery in 1988, assault with a firearm in 1997, and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle in 2011.
He served time in state prison for the robbery, kidnapping and assault convictions and received probation for the weapons charge. He is in custody at Santa Rita Jail and is being held without bail.