Broussard’s statement may help police clear two more killings

April 17th, 2009 14 Comments Printer-Friendly

Antoine Mackey, Yusuf Bey IV, Devaughndre Broussard (Carrie Ching/CIR)

By Thomas Peele, The Chauncey Bailey Project

OAKLAND — On the order of Yusuf Bey IV, Devaughndre Broussard and Antoine Mackey in July 2007 lured a homeless man to a dark corner where he was shot dead after raising his hands over his head, according to a statement Broussard gave prosecutors last month.

Broussard also said Mackey admitted to killing another man with an assault rifle and joking about it, describing himself as “Elmer Fudd” on a hunting trip.

Broussard, who admitted in the document to killing journalist Chauncey Bailey, is scheduled to describe all three killings to an Alameda County grand jury next week as part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors then expect to charge Bey IV and Mackey with multiple murders.

For weeks, Broussard said, Bey IV, then the leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery, told him to follow the man, Odell Roberson, in preparation for killing him. The reason, he said, was revenge for the 2005 killing of Bey IV’s brother, Antar Bey, by Roberson’s nephew, Alonza Phillips.

On the night of July 8, 2007, Broussard, Mackey and Bey IV were “talking and chopping it up” when Bey IV suddenly gave the order: Roberson’s time was up. Broussard told investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office that he took Roberson to a dark spot on Herzog Street, where Mackey passed him an assault rifle, according to a transcript of the interview.

“I took the safety off and pointed it at him,” Broussard said. “He tried to break. I’m like, stop, then he turned around and put his hands up and I (shot) him. … Then he probably turned and I know I just kept hitting him. … His body hopped off the ground and moved a couple of inches.”

Broussard is scheduled to tell a grand jury next week that he killed Roberson and Bailey at Bey IV’s order. He also is to testify that Mackey killed another man, Michael Wills, on July 12, 2007.

Bey IV and Mackey are then expected to each be charged with multiple counts of murder. Broussard has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter. In exchange for his testimony, he would receive a prison sentence of about 25 years with a guaranteed release date.

Both Broussard’s attorney, LeRue Grim, and deputy district attorney Christopher Lamiero have declined to comment on the testimony or plea agreement, which Broussard signed this week.

His testimony comes more than 20 months after police say he shot and killed Bailey near downtown Oakland. He told Lamiero during questioning in preparation for grand jury testimony that Bey IV ordered Bailey killed because the reporter was working on a story about the bakery’s financial problems and internal strife.

Bey IV remains uncharged in Bailey’s killing. He is charged with a host of other crimes, including kidnapping and torture, and is jailed without bail and has denied involvement in Bailey’s killing.

In addition to detailing the slayings of Bailey and Roberson, Broussard said in the interview that Bey IV kept a “hit list” of people he wanted killed for “revenge, retribution.” Broussard said that Bey IV also told him to be ready to kill others in Phillips’ family in retribution for the slaying of Antar Bey — plans that were still being developed when police raided the bakery Aug. 3, 2007, the day after Bailey was killed.

Broussard also told investigators that Mackey told him he shot and killed Wills.

Broussard said he was at the bakery and heard shots. Moments later, Mackey and Bey IV rushed in. Broussard said he followed Mackey to his room where Mackey described the killing.

“He said the dude tried to run and then he shot him,” Broussard said, adding that Mackey was laughing and described himself as the cartoon character Elmer Fudd out hunting.

“I ran over there and I went to look” at where the killing happened a few blocks from the bakery. “Yusuf was like, ‘Go look for yourself.'” Broussard said he dressed in jogging clothes so he could claim he was exercising if police stopped him. As he neared Wills’ body, he said he heard a woman yell, “Somebody killed that boy! Somebody killed that boy!” Wills apparently was a random target chosen because he was white, according to the Broussard’s account.

Broussard said Mackey told him he and Bey IV were discussing the 1970 Zebra Killings in San Francisco, in which African-Americans had killed whites, when they saw Wills, a chef who lived nearby, who was walking home from a convenience store after finishing work.

A few days later, Broussard said Bey IV “said we got a devil. … He was cocky like.” Both Bey IV and his late father, bakery founder Yusuf Bey, have often referred to whites as “devils” while preaching.

In telephone calls recorded from the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and obtained by the Chauncey Bailey Project, Bey IV often makes similar statements, referring to “white and Jew devils” and “media devils” he claims are trying to destroy him.

Thomas Peele is an investigative reporter for Bay Area News Group. Reach him at tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com.

14 responses to “Broussard’s statement may help police clear two more killings”

Raider says:
April 24, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Michael Wills is my older brother, and I am just completely blown away by this article. To hear the humor involved in his killing is appalling. Feeling like Elmer Fudd?! Are you serious?!?! I’m at a loss, a complete loss. I recognize that this is life and life can be very hard and very dangerous. I also understand it is only Broussard’s testimony at this point and that has fluctuated regarding Mr. Bailey’s death, so it could fluctuate again regarding Mackey’s involvement in my brother’s death. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten any sort of information regarding this case so to read this and find that there is a name associated with Mike’s death is refreshing. I also accept the fact that Mackey could come back and deny everything or it may turn out that he wasn’t there at all, and then we’re back to square one. Even if it ends up not being ture, at least there was a glimmer of hope for catching the person that did this. It all depends on how truthful Broussard is being. What happened to my brother, Odell Roberson, and Chauncey Bailey, as well as all the other victims of senseless violence, is a tragedy.
The other aspect of this story that bothers me is the reason behind Mike’s death ….. According to Broussard, he died because he was, basically, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and was the wrong COLOR. He happened to be walking down the street after visiting a convenience store, for some cigarettes I’m sure, and was probably the first white person Mackey and Yusuf saw after discussing the Zebra Killings. Then, BOOM, he’s dead. Just like that, no questions, no nothing. Just because he was white. A ‘devil’ as they called him. That aspect (if proved true) is very, very hard to swallow. I know if the tables were turned, and I had killed a black man just because he was black…….there would be a tremendous uproar, with protests and the whole nine yards. THERE WOULD BE HELL TO PAY!!! Yet, even with Mike’s color and Broussard stating that Mike was a random person that was killed because he was white, there’s been no uproar, no one calling for a hate crime, or crime based on prejudice, nothing. And if I staged a protest regarding it………well, that would just be foolish now, wouldn’t it.
In the end, all I can say is I hope justice is served.
Trixie says:
April 25, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I’m with you on this… this is complete BS. The idea of ANYONE getting 25 yrs. with a guaranteed release date when admitting to two counts of voluntary manslaughter is completer and utter BS. Mike lost 50 years of his life (plus or minus) not to mention the other person… this is not justice – this is an outrage.
Louis Calabro says:
April 30, 2009 at 8:08 am
All kinds of indictment charges, but none that charges a racially motivated hate crime in the murder of Michael Wills. Wonder why?
Raider says:
April 30, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Trixie – I agree with you. How can you be charged with voluntary manslaughter when there was no self defense or anything? Voluntary Manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during the ‘heat of passion’ So the heat of passion lasted a couple of days or weeks for Chauncey’s killing? Ya right! How can you leave the person you shot, then come back for one more shot, and still be charged with voluntary….it doesn’t make sense. And in Mike’s case, there was no confrontation that occurred, so there couldn’t be a heat of passion moment. I guess it’s the lesser of two evils approach…..lower things for the smaller guys so you can get the bigger players above them. At least the indictment has been handed down and they are being arraigned. Hopefully justice is finally served.
Louis – I hear that! I’ve heard the news and read the articles that mention there are special circumstances with this case …… basically that circumstance is multiple murder with no reference to anything regarding race, which is a total load of crap. I can’t believe there has been no mention of this so far especially with all the info that’s coming out about Bey’s hate towards other races, and calling Mike a white devil. It’s a freakin joke
Nosh Riboflavin says:
May 1, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I would like to see Michael Wills’ murder given a hate crime enhancement. Since it is purely a black on white hate crime, that seems very unlikely, as most people seem blind to that concept, even though black hatred of whites is far more commonly acted upon than white hatred of blacks. Also, on my wish list for YBMB miscreants is to see Derwin Longmire tried for statutry rape in regards to the teenagers Bey iv was providing for the good officer’s sexual gratification. Connecting Bey Sr. to the Zebra killings would be quite a thrill, also. Please keep up your fine work. My wife & gave $100.
Malik Bey says:
May 3, 2009 at 11:24 pm
The charges against my brother are unjust.. Devaughndre Broussard killed two men and made up a lie and said my brother ordered it that is wrong my brother did not give him cash or anything so he did not order the killings… I believe that you guys were upset that you could not get my father so you take it upon my younger brother Yusef Bey IV. I’m not going to lie and say he is angel because he is far from it but the charges shouldn’t be filed against Yusef it should be filed against Devaughndre Broussard the killer who lied not once but twice about the crime he should be recieving the death penalty for this.
Jay says:
May 13, 2009 at 11:44 am
Why were there no riots in Oakland after my white friend Mike Wills was murdered because of the color of his skin?? Why was there barely any mention in the media about this racially motivated hate crime?? Please keep investigating this murder and please keep pushing the issue.
Mitochondria says:
May 14, 2009 at 9:37 am
I have been following all of the developments in this case and I am wondering why things are happening so slowly? My opinions are as follows:
1. Broussard is just as guilty as Bey and Mackey. 25 years for two lives is an insult, but it seems like the state would rather let Broussard off easy because this way, they get to convict all of the other people from the bakery as well.
2. There were no riots in Oakland even though Wills was murdered because of the color of his skin because it is an unusual occurrence. It is not as if white people are being murdered because they are white so often that the community has to make such a big statement about it. I am Afrikan. I feel sorry for Wills and I know he didn’t deserve what happened to him.
3. I am worried that Bey and Mackey may be able to wriggle out of this somehow. I hope that they won’t, but do you remember what happened in the cases where they assualted store owners and vandalized their shops? Bey didn’t end up doing any time. And that crime was caught on tape! So who knows what they might be able to do in this case.
4. I was one of those children who admired the people that ran the bakery many years ago. I never worked for them because I don’t practice their religion, but they made the BEST DAMN FISH SANDWICHES in the Bay Area. I was proud of their self-reliance and their strength. But now that I think about it, I never saw any of the women that worked in the bakery smiling when I came in the store. They all were stone faced and usually looked tired. Now that I know about all of the horrific abuse that was going on in there, it makes sense.
5. I know one of Yusuf Bey’s sons. His name is Akbar and he is nothing but a thug. These are very violent people. I hope that no one from Wills’ family has any run-ins with those losers while the trial is going on.
Liz says:
May 18, 2009 at 2:31 pm
No only is it disturbing and painful that Mike Wills’ death is being treated as just another homicide, it’s ironic. Mike lived in the neighborhood he did because he was NOT racist, and did not distinguish people’s merit or kindness by the color of their skin. He had known some of the people who lived there for 5 years or more, and built bikes and gave clothing to homeless/struggling individuals. The “white devil” the bakery killed was nothing of the sort, and the ignorance that contributed to his death is blatant racism. Please continue to report on this issue, as like his older brother, I have been convinced that there is little or nothing I can do. Any media attention directed towards this crime is better than hearing nothing, and may force the public to see this racially motivated killing for what it is.
Louis Calabro says:
June 2, 2009 at 11:13 am
Jay: I have asked the same question. Please contact me and we will try to get the reasons behind no action. Thank you. Louie Calabro eaifpresemeritus@aol.com