Murder charges tossed in chaotic West Oakland triple homicide
OAKLAND, Calif. - Alameda County prosecutors have dropped murder charges against a man in connection with a triple homicide in West Oakland.
A Superior Court judge dismissed the case against Jonathan Zeigler on Thursday.
"He was wrongfully charged as a consequence of some very sloppy police work," his attorney William Welch said Friday.
Welch said his client was freed from jail Thursday night. He said that means the real killer is also free.
"The person involved in this incident is still at large as far as I know," he said.
The incident happened near 29th and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in West Oakland back in August.
Police say a man named Tyrone Banks shot and killed Daven Woolfolk and then got back into his Chevy Malibu.
Investigators say a man linked to a 1977 Chevy Caprice then shot and killed Banks.
Police say Banks - as he was dying - hen ran over and killed bicyclist Tonnell Williams with his car.
It turns out Zeigler owns that Caprice, and he was charged with murdering both Banks and Williams.
But his attorney says his client wasn't driving the car at the time.
And, he says surveillance video shows a much taller, heavier person shooting Banks.
The attorney also says a review of Zeigler's cell phone records by a former Alameda County sheriff's detective showed that he and his device were in East Oakland at the time of the incident.
"And exculpated him 100 percent. He remained in custody for nearly a month after that despite having all of that information,' Welch said.
Welch said the case is a powerful reminder of how a case must be airtight - and why defense attorneys step up for their clients.
"When we bring the powers of the government to bear on an individual and accuse them of a serious crime, then they need to be pretty convinced that they've got the right person," he said.
Welch said he could not speak whether his client knows who was driving the Caprice that day and shot Banks.
The Oakland police investigation is continuing.