Nevarez, who lived in Berkeley, was the unintended victim of a dispute between two people who had gotten into an argument after midnight on April 5. One man who had been involved in the dispute left the area, returned and opened fire. A bullet struck Nevarez in the neck, and he died at the scene, around 1 a.m.
“There were a lot of people out that morning,” said Officer Johanna Watson, Police Department spokeswoman. “We know that somebody or several persons have information regarding this homicide.”
In April, police released images of a man and woman who were termed "persons of interest" in the shooting and of a Mercedes they used to flee the scene of the shooting.
On Tuesday, police released images of a third person of interest, who also reportedly fled in the Mercedes. Investigators have posted images of the three people and the Mercedes here: https://app.box.com/s/jghh6ojypiiog1vzx4udk92rb4x2reoo. Surveillance video that police say is of the newly designated person of interest is below:
The reward for information has grown to at least $35,000 -- a combination of money from Crime Stoppers of Oakland, Pet Food Express and money the family has been able to raise.
Valadez said she hopes the larger reward will help convince people to come forward with information. She still communicates about once a week with Oakland police and has visited and called her lawmakers, she said.
“I just want to be able to say that I have done my very best,” said Valadez.
The Oakland Police Department says it has "closed" -- made arrests in -- 30 homicide cases this year. Nineteen of those cases occurred in 2015, while the remaining 11 cases were cases from previous years, the department says.
Nevarez is not the only unintended victim of stray bullets this year. In March, Chyemil Pierce, 30, died in West Oakland while trying to shield her children from a nearby gunbattle.
