Suspects arrested in murder

Louis LaVenture,
Editor-in-Chief

Things took a deadly turn on July 13 for Adan Farrid Katami, 38, from Antioch.

According to several family members, Katami was on his way to pick up his four-year-old daughter when Memphis, Tenn. native Johnny Will Wright Jr., 46, shot and killed Katami at an intersection in Cherryland, an unincorporated area of North Hayward. Another Memphis native, Chariott Louise Burks, 25, was in a vehicle with Wright Jr., and was also charged with the murder of Katami, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

Wright Jr. and Burks were both charged with murder on July 15 and will appear for arraignment and to enter pleas at the Hayward Hall of Justice at 9 a.m. on Aug. 5.

According to Alameda County Sheriff’s Sergeant Ray Kelly, Katami was stopped in his red Dodge truck, traveling south on Meekland Avenue around 1 p.m. While he waited to make a left turn on Blossom Road, a man got out of a red Jeep Wrangler, walked up to Katami and shot him multiple times at point blank range.

Wright Jr. fled the scene, but the report filed by Deputy Nicholas Paxton said sheriffs eventually caught him in San Lorenzo with help from K-9 units and an Oakland Police Department helicopter. According to Kelly, it is unclear how the suspects knew the victim. However, in addition to the murder, both Wright Jr. and Burks were charged with crimes that allege that they waited for the victim, who was an intended target.

According to Paxton’s report, after her arrest, Burks made a statement that implicated herself and Wright Jr., who did not make a statement.

The hashtag #RIPAK had a number of posts on social media platforms following the murder. According to family members of Katami, he was a San Francisco native and “AK” was the name he was affectionately referred to by friends and family.