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Hollis To Stand Trial For Willis-Starbuck Murder

OAKLAND (Bay City News) ― Christopher Hollis faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in state prison after a judge ruled Friday that there's enough evidence for him to stand trial on murder charges stemming from the shooting death of his close friend Meleia Willis-Starbuck.

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Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carlos Ynostroza made his finding at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing that spanned six days and was highlighted by testimony Thursday and today by 21-year-old Christopher Wilson of Berkeley.

Wilson, who attended Berkeley High School with friends Hollis, a 22-year-old Hayward man, and Willis-Starbuck, a 19-year-old Dartmouth College student, identified Hollis as the shooter in the incident that took her life.

Willis-Starbuck was shot near her apartment at the intersection of College Avenue and Dwight Way in the early morning hours of July 17.

Prosecutors initially charged both Hollis and Wilson with murder for the shooting death of Willis-Starbuck as well as assault with a firearm in connection with a minor injury to University of California, Berkeley football player Gary Doxy, who was grazed on his right wrist.

But Ynostroza dismissed the murder and assault charges against Wilson Thursday after he pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of being an accessory to murder after the fact. Willis had driven Hollis from the scene.

Wilson then took the witness stand and testified against Hollis.

Prosecutors say Hollis fired shots near Willis-Starbuck's apartment building after she called him for help with an argument she and her female friends were having with some Cal football players.

According to Wilson, Hollis and Willis-Starbuck were such close friends that they called each other "brother" and "sister."

In his testimony Thursday and Friday, Wilson said Hollis jumped from his car when they pulled into a parking lot near Willis-Starbuck's apartment and jogged in a crouched position to the intersection of College Avenue and Dwight Way. He said he heard four or five shots.

Wilson said he saw Hollis fire the first shot and the last shot by looking through the rear view mirror of his car. He said he didn't see the other shots because he ducked momentarily after the first shot.

Wilson said that Hollis fired the first shot into the air at an angle of about 45 degrees. But he said Hollis fired the last shot at a more straight-ahead angle and had a downward flourish at the end, as if he were hitting a punching bag.

After the hearing ended, Hollis' attorney, John Burris, admitted that Wilson's description of the last shot "was not as upward as I had anticipated and raises questions" about Burris' plan to argue that the shooting was an accident and Hollis didn't intend to hurt anyone.

Burris said, "I was unaware of Chris Wilson's description of the last shot."

The veteran defense lawyer said he thinks Hollis may have been influenced by what he said is "the social culture people have developed around gangster rap," stating that the shooting angle described by Wilson remind him of shooting angles depicted in gangster rap music videos.

Burris said he thinks Hollis "may have gotten caught up in the moment and saw people running (after the initial shot) and got a kick out of it."

Elizabeth Grossman, Wilson's lawyer, said Thursday that she thinks Wilson's testimony "fills in all the blanks in this case and the case will come to resolution for everyone quickly," indicating that she thinks prosecutors might allow Hollis to plead guilty to a charge less than murder.

But prosecutor Carrie Panetta said today that she doesn't think Hollis' case will end anytime soon "unless he's willing to plead guilty to murder."

Panetta said "the evidence shows it was murder" because she believes it indicates Hollis "acted with conscious disregard for human life by firing at a group of men."

Panetta said, "Hollis exited the vehicle (Wilson's car) and started shooting without provocation," as Wilson testified that the Cal football players didn't threaten Hollis or him.

Panetta said prosecutors have not decided whether to seek a first- or second-degree murder conviction for Hollis.

Hollis, who is being held in the county jail without bail, is scheduled to return to court for arraignment on Feb. 28. No trial date has been set.

Wilson, a student at Vista Community College in Berkeley who's currently free on $326,000 property bond, could face up to three years in state prison when he's sentenced, but Grossman said she believe he will only be placed on probation.

Panetta said Wilson's fate would be determined by the judge who sentences him.

Wilson won't be sentenced until after Hollis' case ends, as prosecutors want to make sure that he lives up to his agreement to testify truthfully in the case.

(Bay City News)