Less than 24 hours after a fatal shooting on Channing Way in southwest Berkeley, homicide detectives have arrested two people: the man they say is the killer and a woman who allegedly helped him after the crime.
On Wednesday afternoon, police arrested 20-year-old Devin Carrihill of Berkeley on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to jail records reviewed by Berkeleyside.
Carrihill’s arrest at 4 p.m. Wednesday followed the arrest nearly 12 hours earlier of 73-year-old Linetta Head of Berkeley on suspicion of being an accessory after the killing. Head has since posted bond and been released, according to jail records online. Police have not said how the two know each other.
Police have said little about the circumstances of Tuesday’s homicide, citing the ongoing investigation and pending charging decisions by the Alameda County district attorney’s office.
Authorities said previously that a woman called police at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to report hearing gunfire in her home in the 1100 block of Channing Way, near Byron Street.
Arriving officers found an unresponsive man in his 20s on the floor with a gun in his hand. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police initially thought his death might have been a suicide but quickly ruled that out.
In the hours that followed, a woman in her 20s walked into an East Bay hospital seeking medical attention for a gunshot wound. Authorities determined that she had been shot on Channing Way in Berkeley on Tuesday night. Police have not said how the woman had been wounded but said she is expected to survive.
On Thursday, the Alameda County coroner’s office said the name of the man who was killed remained unavailable pending positive identification.
Carrihill remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is being held without bail. He is scheduled for arraignment Friday at East County Hall of Justice, according to court records online. Head’s next court date was unavailable online because she has already been released from custody.
Police said they could not release booking photos of either individual at this time.
The case remains under investigation, Officer Byron White, department spokesperson, told Berkeleyside on Thursday afternoon. BPD plans to provide additional details in the future, he said.
Carrihill has one prior conviction in Alameda County, according to court records online. He was charged with the felony looting of a closed business May 31, 2020, and ultimately was convicted, as part of a plea deal, of misdemeanor auto burglary. He was sentenced to one year of probation, which ran through March 25, 2022.
In January 2021, Stockton police stopped Carrihill and found him in possession of a loaded gun during a vehicle search, according to the Stockton Record. No information was immediately available about the outcome of that case.
According to the Daily Republic, a Solano County news outlet, Carrihill graduated from Golden Hills Community School in Fairfield in June 2020 and planned to attend Sacramento State.
“It feels good to graduate,” Carrihill told a reporter who attended the ceremony. “It feels like it’s just a relief off our necks.”
Tuesday’s killing was Berkeley’s second homicide in 2022. In total, there have been 16 confirmed shootings this year, which left two people dead and six wounded.
Councilmember Terry Taplin, who represents southwest Berkeley, issued a statement about Tuesday’s homicide.
“I am grieving the loss of another neighbor in the district. We must never let gun violence become an acceptable, routine part of our lives,” he wrote. “It is a terrible tragedy and we must do everything in our power to stop the bloodshed for good.”
Stay tuned for Berkeleyside coverage of Thursday’s council meeting. See full agenda materials on the city website.
He said the city “must take serious action now” to address the rising violence: Shootings have been on the rise in Berkeley since 2018. Taplin and several colleagues have now put forward a proposal — up for consideration Thursday night — to hire more police officers “so they can devote more resources to investigating and solving crimes.”
Taplin also noted in his statement that police had responded to a shooting at the same Channing Way home last year.
“With more full-time staffing, my proposed Flex Team for Problem-Oriented Policing could devote their time to working with the community, and the upcoming Ceasefire program, to address the root causes of violence,” he said. “This is what my community is overwhelmingly calling for, and it’s long past time for them to be heard. My neighbors have waited long enough. West Berkeley will not be a guinea pig for political experiments, and we cannot expect murders to be solved on overtime alone. Every victim was someone’s child, someone’s friend — we must grieve with them and respond to their tragedy with the respect every human life deserves.”
The Berkeley Police Department has asked anyone with information about Tuesday’s killing to call the Homicide Unit at 510-981-5741.
