OAKLAND — The suspect in a shootout that left two 17-year-old boys dead has been sentenced to six years in state prison through a plea agreement with Alameda County prosecutors, court records show.
Alex Foreman, 21, pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Foreman was initially charged with two counts of murder but those charges were dropped as part of a plea deal. He was transferred to state prison on July 16, records show.
The charges stem from a chaotic shootout on May 16, 2021, where police say Foreman and 17-year-old Marcel Alley Jr. attempted to rob 17-year-old Isaac Mitchell during a pre-planned marijuana deal. The result was an exchange of gunfire that left both teen boys dead, and Foreman with the legal liability.
Foreman’s lawyer, Darryl Stallworth, said in an interview that had the case gone to trial, he would have argued self-defense. He said that Mitchell fired the first shots, killing Alley, and that Foreman was in fear of being killed when he allegedly fired back.
At the November 2022 preliminary hearing for Foreman, Judge Andrew Steckler said that “it’s hard to say exactly what happened and why” and that the defense argument “may be true.” He upheld both murder charges after noting that the legal standard for preliminary hearings is much lower than what jurors are given at trial.
Foreman was also ordered to pay $14,621 in restitution, records show.
At the time of Foreman’s arrest, police said they had video evidence as well as interviews with a member of Alley’s family to back up the allegations. They said that a deal was arranged to sell dozens of bags of cannabis labeled “Frosties Strain” and that Foreman — who went by “Bub” — intended to Mitchell and another person who was there at gunpoint.
Police found text messages between Foreman and Mitchell arranging to meet up 2100 block of East 26th Street, where the shooting took place, according to court records.
“It’s a horrible, tragic situation and another example of the horrible formula of selling marijuana and guns and the vulnerability that sellers have when they are making these sales,” Stallworth said.
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