DA drops enhancement charges after 75-year-old killed in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Alameda County DA has dropped enhancement charges against two men accused of killing a 75-year-old man in Oakland.

Teaunte Bailey, 28, and Demetrius Britton, 59, were charged with killing Pak Ho, 75, while he was on his morning walk in Adams Point in March 2021.

Police said Bailey shoved Ho to the ground during an attempted robbery, and that Britton was the getaway driver.

Ho died several days later from his injuries.

The East Bay Times reports that the deputy district attorney on Monday described the decision to drop the enhancements as a decision by his office, but he didn't go into detail.

Newly elected DA Pamela Price campaigned on a progressive reform and had told voters she was opposed to adding special circumstances enhancements and the Three Strikes Law, both of which greatly extend prison terms for people convicted of felonies.

Price faces the beginning of a recall effort against her. 

If convicted as charged, Britton and Bailey still face sentences of life with the possibility of parole.

The trial began on Monday.