Arrest made in shooting death of East Bay muralist

Louis LaVenture,
News and Sports Editor

Graphic by Tam Duong Jr./The Pioneer
Graphic by Tam Duong Jr./The Pioneer

The Oakland Police Department announced they made an arrest in connection to the Sept. 29 shooting of East Bay artist Antonio Ramos.

Twenty-year-old Marquise Holloway was arrested at his mother’s residence in Stockton on Nov. 20. Then on Nov. 24, he was charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted robbery and three separate robbery charges, according to Alameda County Court records.

OPD authorities said Holloway is the man they believe shot and killed Ramos while he was working on a mural in West Oakland.

According to OPD Lieutenant Roland Holmgren, Ramos was working on the mural on Sept. 29 and took a break to take some pictures of his progress. Holloway and Ramos then got into an incident over the camera equipment that ended with Holloway allegedly shooting Ramos before he fled the scene.

Ramos was working on the Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project in collaboration with ten other artists. The mural is one of six that is being coordinated by ArtEsteem, a branch of the Attitudinal Healing Connection, a West Oakland group that promotes violence awareness through arts and education. Neither organization returned calls at the time of publication.

On Oct. 5, OPD released a surveillance image of a “person of interest” in the case and they confirmed that it was Holloway in the image. Holloway is being held at Santa Rita County Jail without bail. His next court date is on Nov. 30 at Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.

On Sept. 13, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent reported their car had been broken into and a gun had been stolen from it in San Francisco. ICE spokesman James Schwab confirmed a gun was stolen from one of its officer’s vehicles on Sept. 13 and Sean Gibson was arrested for the car burglary. OPD representative Johnna Watson said the stolen gun was the one used to kill Ramos but they are not sure how it ended up in Holloway’s possession.

This is the second shooting death that involved a stolen ICE weapon in the Bay Area this year. On July 1, Kate Steinle was shot and killed with a stolen gun while walking near Pier 14 in San Francisco.

Photo by Kris Stewart/The Pioneer
Photo by Kris Stewart/The Pioneer

Holloway had an emotional outburst in the courtroom during his arraignment and had to be restrained by Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies as he shouted obscenities in a video of the proceedings.

Ramos’s brother, Leano Rice, was emotional as he spoke at the mural dedicated to his slain brother.

“We can’t forget,” Rice said. “We can’t forget why we are doing this and what it stands for. Don’t forget.”