GUILTY CA - Alaysha Carradine, 8, shot during a sleepover, Oakland, 17 July 2013

Darnell Williams, 25, is accused of the killings of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine during a sleepover at an East Oakland home on July 17, 2013, then 22-year-old Anthony Medearis in Berkeley in an unrelated shooting seven weeks later. In his opening statement this morning in Williams' trial, prosecutor John Brouhard said, "You'll see the aftermath of this defendant's rampage."

Brouhard said the shooting at an apartment in the 3400 block of Wilson Street at about 11:15 p.m., which claimed Alaysha's life, wounded two other children and a 63-year-old woman, was in retaliation for the shooting death of 26-year-old Jermaine Davis in the 1800 block of Derby Street in Berkeley about four hours earlier.

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In addition to two counts of murder for the deaths of Alaysha and Medearis, Williams is charged with three counts of attempted murder for the shooting on July 17, 2013. Williams also faces three special circumstance allegations: committing multiple murders, lying in wait in the shooting that claimed Alaysha's life and killing Medearis during the course of an attempted robbery.

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Jurors in the death penalty murder trial of Darnell Williams couldn't help but wipe away tears in court on Monday as the prosecutor showed a video depicting some of the last moment's of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine's life.

The young girl's family wept along with several jurors as the police body camera video of Oakland police officer Jason Mitchell was shown (...)

Williams, 25, is accused of killing Alaysha and wounding two other children and a grandmother on July 17, 2013 on the 3400 block of Wilson Avenue around 11:15 p.m. after the three children answered a ringing doorbell.

"He lured three children to the door and released a barrage of gunfire," Brouhard said.

The shooter shot through a screen door, and when the door slowly opened, continued to fire.

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After four weeks in trial, with 13 days of testimony and 36 witnesses, prosecutor John Brouhard began his closing arguments Monday in the double homicide case that could result in the death penalty for Darnell Williams Jr. if the jury finds him guilty.

Williams, 25, has been charged with eight felonies and several special circumstances in connection with the fatal shootings in 2013 of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine in Oakland and 22-year-old Anthony “Tone” Medearis III in Berkeley less than two months later.

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A 25-year-old Oakland man whose gunshot into a house killed an 8-year-old girl at a sleepover and who weeks later fatally shot a man in the back at a dice game was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday in the first case in four years where Alameda County prosecutors have sought the death penalty for a murder conviction.

Darnell Williams stared straight ahead and showed no reaction when the court clerk read the verdict after two days of deliberations, but family members of both victims -- Alaysha Carradine killed in Oakland, and Anthony Medearis, 22, shot in Berkeley -- gasped, then began weeping and embraced.

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The case now moves to the penalty phase, where the same jury of seven women and five men will decide whether Williams will be sent to death row

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As a jury this week decides the fate of an Oakland man convicted of killing an 8-year-old girl and a man with whom he argued over a dice game, the case marks a turning point for Alameda County and its district attorney, Nancy O'Malley.

It's the first death penalty trial in the county since O'Malley took office seven years ago.

She's had 103 other cases where she could have sought the death penalty. And except for one other case, where she initially sought death but reversed the decision before trial, this is the only one she's pursued.

So, why this case, of all cases?

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A convicted murderer asked a judge Monday if he could forgo the jury during the penalty phase of his trial, in which jurors could recommend a death penalty sentence.

In the midst of the penalty phase, which began last week, Darnell Williams asked Judge Jeffrey Horner through his attorney Deborah Levy if he could give up his right to the jury trial, against the advice of his attorneys. But Horner said he would not allow such a waiver.

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A man convicted of killing an 8-year-old girl in 2013 who had insisted that he testify in his trial changed his mind Thursday.

Darnell Williams, 25, was convicted May 6 for the murders of Alaysha Carradine, 8, and Anthony Medearis, 22, in 2013. Now during the penalty phase of his trial, a jury will decide if he deserves the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

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"We're here because Alaysha is not here," prosecutor John Brouhard said Tuesday during closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial.

"That adorable little girl who liked to play dress up ... that man took a gun and shot that girl in the neck and chest and left her to die a horrible death."

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Brouhard called the deaths of Alaysha and Medearis "sinister and horrific."

"Without hesitation, the death penalty is the only just verdict in this case," Brouhard said.

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The jury is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday.

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A jury Thursday recommended the death penalty for an Oakland man who was convicted of murdering an 8-year-old girl and a 22-year-old man in separate incidents seven weeks apart in 2013.

If he finds legal reasons to do so, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner will have the option of changing the jury's recommendation to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he sentences 25-year-old Darnell Williams of Oakland on Sept. 21.

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Darnell Williams was sentenced to the death penalty Wednesday after being convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for the 2013 killings of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine and 22-year-old Anthony Medearis.

The jury also found Williams guilty on seven additional counts — including of attempted murder and assault — and, in June, returned a penalty verdict of death. The prosecution pleaded for this sentence because of the nature of Williams’ crimes and his continued violence in prison.

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