Oakland bakery reopens after owner killed in robbery

OAKLAND calif., - A popular Oakland bakery reopened to the public on Wednesday, weeks after owner Jen Angel was killed in a violent robbery.

Angel Cakes at 5th and Brush streets opened its doors in the afternoon. Anytra Henderson and her mother were among the first customers to visit.

"You got banana creme pie, I got the lemon Meyers," Henderson said as she emerged from the shop.

"I'm just starting to hear it happening all over, you know where people are getting robbed, and it's just really sad. People work hard for their money, and she didn't deserve that at all," Henderson said.

On Feb. 6, Angel was sitting in her car in a bank parking lot near 21st and Webster streets in downtown Oakland when someone broke into her car and grabbed her purse. Angel tried to get her belongings back, but was dragged by the suspect's car and hit her head on the pavement. 

She died three days later.

"I just wanted to help out and honor this lady because I feel so bad what happened to her," said customer Gordon Jeong of Oakland

Cherie Carson of Richmond also stopped by the shop and bought two boxes of cupcakes.

I'm here to support the company, I'm here to support her vision," Carson said. "I'm amazed and awed at how the community has come together, to support her."

Angel was a longtime community activist who did not believe in incarceration. Friends said she would not want those responsible to be in jail.

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"I think we should honor what she wants, and I think it is a new way of approaching justice," Carson said.

Angel's organs were donated including - on Valentine's Day - her heart.  Loved ones held a moment of silence and honored her as staff took her to the operating room. Angel was 48 years old.

Oakland police are actively investigating the case and have not reported any arrests.