OAKLAND — A three-time felon has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting Saturday morning in East Oakland of another man following a dispute of some kind, according to authorities and court documents.
Jose Estrada-Avalos, 38, was charged Wednesday in the killing of Santos Pablo-Ramirez, 21, who was shot dead at about 3:04 a.m. Saturday in the 2100 block of 39th Avenue.
Besides the murder count, he is also charged with shooting from a motor vehicle and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. The charges include numerous enhancements, including that Estrada-Avalos was on probation at the time of the killing. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail and is scheduled to enter a plea on July 5.
Both men are from Oakland but did not know each other prior to the shooting, police said.
They apparently got into a dispute — police would not say what it was about — and Estrada-Avalos allegedly shot at Pablo-Ramirez from a stopped car.
Police did not say how they identified Estrada-Avalos as the suspect but he was arrested Monday evening on a probable cause warrant after he was spotted driving a car in the 3700 block of International Boulevard in the Fruitvale district.
According to court documents, a gun that had been modified to be an assault weapon was found in a paper bag on the passenger seat. He was also found to be in possession of suspected methamphetamine, the records say. But the criminal complaint filed against him Wednesday does not include any drug crimes.
Police are trying to confirm if the gun recovered is the same one used in the killing.
According to the court documents, Estrada has three prior felony convictions, all from Alameda County. The most recent is June of last year for a July 2021 vehicle theft for which he was on probation. The others are from January 2019 for vehicle theft and September 2016 for being an accessory to a felony crime.