Vigil for man who died in Alameda police custody – 3 officers charged by DA

ALAMEDA, Calif. - The annual vigil in Alameda took on a different tone Friday, as dozens of people gathered for the third anniversary of the death of Mario Gonzalez in Alameda police custody, just a day after Alameda County prosecutors announced criminal charges against three officers.

In 2021, the 26-year-old father died after he was restrained by the officers, who were charged on Thursday with felony involuntary manslaughter.

 "We really appreciate you all spending your afternoon with us and in Mario's name," said Gerardo "Jerry" Gonzalez, Mario's brother.

"I was very, very happy, but it's painful," Gonzalez's mother Edith Arenales said Friday at the vigil at Otis Drive and Park Avenue near where her son encountered police.

"My son died right here in this park," Arenales said, "It's not easy. It's not easy to be holding the pain."

"We're always missing him, birthdays, Christmas, all the holidays. Tomorrow is my birthday, but this is my present today," Arenales said, noting that their family was relieved that the new District Attorney Pamela Price had reopened the case involving the three officers 

Arenales said she has a message for the three men charged. 

"I'm not going to say nothing bad for them. I feel bad for them," Arenales said,  "I believe in God. And I know, you know, you kill somebody, for sure you're going to pay, in different ways. So I want to say, I forgive them." 

For a brief moment, Arenales paused and then added quietly, "But I"m a mother, you understand?"

"When I first heard the news, just yesterday...I was actually in tears," said Amanda Majail-Blanco with the group Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice. Majail-Blanco says she lost her own family member in an incident with the CHP. "I think it's important for all families. We need to stay united as a front because we're the voiceless community."

Indigenous dancers joined the vigil with prayers and songs. 

"I was surprised, but also relieved for Edith and her family. Our goal has always been to support the family and whatever they feel is accountability and justice to them is most important," said Savanna Cheer, an Alameda resident.

 "We're a little disappointed that it's only involuntary manslaughter and the maximum is four years, but like I said, it's a little bit of justice for this family and we're hoping that it actually goes to trial," Jenice Anderson of Transform Alameda said. 

"I think it's a systemic issue, that needs to be dealt with that way. And a few officers, are unfortunately not going to solve that problem," Peter Kahl, an Alameda resident, said.

At a news conference Thursday announcing the charges, District Attorney Pamela Price said, "It is important as public officials that we do have a public accountability unit, that we do hold people accountable when there is harm, and that we don't have a double standard."

On April 19, 2021, officers were called by neighbors who reported Gonzalez, a stranger to them, was hanging out in the area. After being restrained, he became unresponsive and died at a hospital.

Price's predecessor, Nancy O'Malley, had declined to charge officers Eric McKinley, Cameron Leahy and James Fisher, noting in part that Gonzalez was under the influence of meth and was obese.

But a second autopsy commissioned by his family says he died of "restraint asphyxiation."

Price also on the analysis by use-of-force expert Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina law professor and former police officer who concluded, "The use of force by Ofcs. Fisher, Leahy and McKinley to place and keep Mr. Gonzalez Arenales in the prone position for an extended time after he had been secured in handcuffs was unreasonable, excessive and contrary to generally accepted police practices."

Michael Haddad, an attorney who represented Gonzalez's son, said, "I really don't know why it took the DA's office so long to come to this conclusion. It's obvious that these charges are appropriate under these facts."

Attorneys for the accused officers have blasted Price for what they call a "blatantly political prosecution" filed just before the statute of limitations, just days after learning she would face a recall.

KTVU legal analyst Michael Cardoza said, "The politics of all of this, what's going on in our society, the climate of it, this case has to go to trial and let the jurors of Alameda County decide what they want.

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez said she supports the findings by the department's independent investigation released in 2022. It found no criminal wrongdoing by the officers. She said in a statement, "Mr. Gonzalez's pre-existing medical conditions and the level of toxicity of methamphetamine found in his system during the autopsy contributed to his death as APD officers tried to overcome his resistance." 

Cat Brooks of the Anti Police-Terror Project said, "They called the police, he was dog-piled, and he died. Somebody needs to be held accountable for that. There's nothing that Mario did that day that earned him a coffin."

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@foxc.om and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan