‘Fortunate to be alive’: Oakland murder case thrown out through plea deal

OAKLAND — It was a murder case over a showdown between two armed men who drew their guns and shot each other in a parking lot one evening last year.

One died from his wound, while the other survived only to be charged with murder. But the case didn’t stick: through a plea deal reached in March, prosecutors dismissed murder and allowed the suspect to plead no contest to a gun charge instead.

The defendant, 26-year-old Marcus Maxie, is being sentenced to two years in prison. Reduced by half with good behavior, it is less time than what he has spent in Santa Rita Jail awaiting a resolution to his case, court records show.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the outcome. Deputy Public Defender Paul Foster, who represented Maxie, called it a “clear” self-defense case.

“Mr. Maxie was nearly killed and was forced to defend himself after being violently attacked without provocation,” Foster said. “He had simply stopped at the store to pick up supplies for a family barbecue when the decedent, armed with a gun, confronted and assaulted him in the parking lot. Mr. Maxie is fortunate to be alive, and he looks forward to rebuilding his life after spending a year in custody.”

During the preliminary hearing last September, most of the facts were agreed upon by both sides. On May 28, 2024, Maxie and 35-year-old Aaron Hughes approached each other on the 10500 block of Foothill Boulevard in East Oakland. Maxie pulled a pistol but didn’t aim it.

Then Hughes pulled out his own gun when the two men were only a few feet apart, and the shootout started from there. Hughes shot Maxie and Maxie shot Hughes. Later that day, at a hospital, doctors pronounced Hughes dead.

Maxie was treated for a gunshot wound to his leg and sent to jail. Hughes was later found to be legally drunk, with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit, according to court records.

Perhaps most baffling, there was no evidence that Maxie and Hughes knew each other before this day, according to police, witness testimony and court filings by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

At the preliminary hearing, Foster argued that Maxie knew Hughes was armed because Hughes’ gun was badly concealed on his waistband, and that Maxie got his own pistol ready because he sensed danger. Foster argued that Hughes did the “dumbest thing” possible by pulling his own pistol, but failed to convince Judge Delia Trevino to dismiss the murder charge in favor of manslaughter, court records show.

But preliminary hearing judges like Trevino go by a probable cause legal standard, a much lower threshold than what prosecutors would be required to prove at trial. On March 14, prosecuting and defense attorneys went into court and announced that a deal had been struck.