Two ex-convicts have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a San Leandro man in Castro Valley in August in what may have been a marijuana transaction that went wrong, authorities said.
David Harrison, 21, of San Leandro, is charged with murder with the special circumstance of committing a murder during a robbery and Marcus Smith, 22, of Oakland is charged with being an accessory after the fact in connection with the shooting of Joseph Gormley in the 2300 block of John Court, near Interstate Highways 580 and 238, around 5:40 p.m. on Aug. 9.
Gormley died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said.
Based on Gormley's cellphone records, investigators determined that the last phone call that was made to him was from a cellphone associated with Harrison, who also matched the description of the suspect as a black male adult with shoulder-length dreadlock-style hair who fled in a 2004 Ford Taurus, Alameda County sheriff's Deputy Laurina Holt wrote in a probable cause statement.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Harrison's cellphone records and they indicated that he was in the area of the shooting when the last call was made to Gormley, according to Holt.
An examination of Gormley's text messages on Aug. 7, two days before the shooting, revealed that Gormley had sold marijuana to an unknown buyer, who asked Gormley to deliver the marijuana to a home in Hayward, Holt wrote.
Investigators later determined that the Hayward home is where Harrison's girlfriend lives, Holt said.
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Warrants for Harrison and Smith were issued on Sept. 14 based on their cellphone records and video surveillance connecting them to the suspects' vehicle, according to Holt.
On Sept. 17 Harrison was arrested in San Leandro and Smith was arrested in Sacramento.
Prosecutors say Harrison was convicted of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon while he was a juvenile and was convicted of second-degree robbery in adult court in Alameda County on Dec. 18, 2014.
Prosecutors say Smith was convicted of second-degree robbery in Alameda County on Dec. 21, 2012, and of grand theft in Placer County on Jan. 30, 2017.
Harrison and Smith both pleaded not guilty on Monday and are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 29 for a pretrial hearing.
