An Oakland murder defendant sipped a strawberry milkshake from McDonald’s in an Alameda County courtroom before pleading no contest to killing 55-year-old handyman Darius Brazell, who was shot dead at a Grand Lake bus stop in 2020. Judge Scott Patton approved the unusual treat for 42-year-old Ronald McGregor, acknowledging it was normally against courtroom rules, then sealed the room for private discussions between McGregor and his attorney before announcing the plea deal would move forward.
McGregor pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and received a life sentence with a chance for parole in 20 years, according to The Mercury News. Prosecutors did not object to sealing the courtroom, and the case had been scheduled to go to trial in July before the plea was reached. Brazell was killed shortly after exiting an AC Transit bus near Lakeshore Avenue and Mandana Boulevard, and the shooting was captured on video by cameras aboard the bus, per the same report.
Brazell was shot at 5:56 PM on August 8, 2020, at a stop directly adjacent to the neighborhood’s Know Justice, Know Peace Memorial in Oakland’s Grand Lake commercial district, according to Splashpad News. Brazell was born on Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1965 to an Air Force staff sergeant, attended high school in Detroit, and later raised five children while working as a handyman and painter in Oakland.
A Community in Mourning Near a Memorial to Justice
Katrina Williams described Brazell as someone people called when they needed household repairs done, per The Mercury News. His son, Darian Brazell, said in 2020 that his family did not hate anyone and wanted to understand why an innocent 55-year-old man was killed, adding that he hoped the shooter would turn himself in. Darian described his father as a good, loving person who took care of all of his kids…