A 29-year-old Oakland man has been sentenced to 19 years in state prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter, according to court records.
Melvin Hines III was sentenced on July 14, following a plea deal which resulted in the dropping of murder and attempted murder charges, as stated in court records. Hines was charged in November 2020, eight months after police allege he fatally shot Eric Chavis-Reshard Jr., 32, and injured another individual during the same incident.
Police report that Chavis-Reshard was shot and killed on the 1800 block of 88th Avenue in East Oakland at around 5 p.m. on March 3, 2020. Surveillance footage revealed a green Pontiac leaving the scene, as mentioned in court records. Hines’ girlfriend, who owned the Pontiac, was later arrested and informed the police that he had driven her car on that day.
Authorities also state that the same firearm used to kill Chavis-Reshard and wound his friend was used in another shooting, which occurred three hours later and left a 9-year-old boy with nonfatal injuries. However, Hines was never charged in relation to the second shooting.
As part of the plea agreement, Hines is required to pay $7,343.08 in victim restitution. Additionally, he will receive credit for the nearly three years he has already spent in custody awaiting the resolution of his case.