The three men accused in the killing of security guard Kevin Nishita while he was on the job and protecting a KRON4 news crew have all pleaded guilty, though only the one who pulled the trigger is being charged with murder.
A few years back when crime was much worse in the Bay Area and every city seemed to hate its District Attorney, one of the many killings that galvanized public sentiment against then-Alameda County DA Pamela Price was the 2021 daylight murder of security guard Kevin Nishita. Nishita was a retired Colma and San Jose police officer who was providing security for a KRON4 news team that was doing a segment on a masked mob breaking into an Oakland clothing store. Nishita was shot in the chest when a trio of suspects tried to steal the news crew’s camera equipment.
The case was originally charged by Price's predecessor Nancy O’Malley, but Price was seen to have been botching the prosecution when she took office and then concluded that a different alleged gang member was the one who pulled the trigger. And then she declined to file sentencing enhancements that would have lengthened the three suspects’ prison sentences.
But now, more than four years after the killing, it appears all three will get plenty long prison sentences. KTVU reports that all three suspects have pleaded guilty to the crime, though only the man who pulled the trigger, Laron Gilbert, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Gilbert is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life.
Gilbert, you may recall, fled to Kansas City and was not arrested and extradited back until 2024. Two other suspects, Sahdihia Mitchell and Hershel Hale, only pleaded no contest to lesser charges of robbery. Their potential sentences are less clear.
The murder trial would have started within about three weeks.
Image: Town of Colma
