Three men arrested in the 2021 killing of retired Bay Area police officer Kevin Nishita have all pleaded guilty to various charges, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Laron Gilbert, 31, pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge, along with sentencing enhancements, and faces a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Shadihia Mitchell, 29, and Hershel Hale, 28, pleaded guilty to robbery and are each expected to be sentenced to 25 years in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
All three were originally facing charges of murder, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, along with gun and gang enhancements. Gilbert was originally facing up to 189 years to life in prison, while Hale was looking at 151 years to life and Mitchell could have been sent to prison for 78 years to life.
Nishita was killed while working as a security guard protecting a KRON-TV news crew on assignment at 14th and Webster streets in Oakland on Nov. 24, 2021.
Mitchell and Hale were arrested about a month after the killing and have been in custody ever since, but Gilbert remained at large until Jan. 17, 2024, when he was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service in Kansas City, Missouri. The trio are suspected of being in a San Francisco street gang.
All three men are scheduled for a sentencing hearing on April 7 at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin.