OAKLAND — Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson has signaled a willingness to break with her predecessor and file charges that carry life without parole against an Alameda man accused of killing five of his family members. But a judge is set to soon rule on a public defender’s attempt to stop it.
On April 11, Judge Clifford Blakely is scheduled to decide on the county public defender’s early test of the district attorney’s office’s ability to add special circumstances enhancements to serious cases. Prosecutors are moving to add such enhancements to the case of 55-year-old Shane Killian, who allegedly killed five family members in Alameda, including his 1-year-old and 6-year-old sons, then blamed the massacre on his dead wife.
Under former District Attorney Pamela Price, who voters recalled last November, prosecutors filed five murder charges against Killian, but didn’t include a multiple victim enhancement that could make Killian eligible for life without parole, records show. But Jones Dickson, a judge who became the county’s new top prosecutor in January, has formed a “special circumstances” committee that agreed to move ahead with special circumstances against Killian, court records show.
The deputy public defenders who represent Killian are urging Blakely to reject the motion, arguing the matter was settled under Price’s administration. Generally, prosecutors have much legal leeway when it comes to amending criminal complaints.
“There appears to be no valid reason for the deviation from the original charging decision, as nothing in this case appears to have charged other than the District Attorney’s own administration,” the defense motion says.
In 2022, Price ran on reducing mass incarceration, arguing that enhancements are disproportionally filed against minorities and contribute to prison overcrowding. She won her election handily, only to be recalled in 2024, in part due to a backlash over her policy to reduce enhancements by telling prosecutors not to file them without approval from an office administrator.
Ironically, in one case where Price’s office did file sentencing enhancements, a judge later tossed them out over concerns she had used the decision as a political wedge when seeking political support from the defendant’s lawyer.
Recall supporters chided Price for not seeking enhancements in many high profile cases, including East Bay serial killer David Misch.
In Killian’s case, prosecutors allege that he murdered five family members, including his two young sons, his wife and his mother and father-in-law. The case is based in part on his father-in-law allegedly telling a neighbor that Killian was the shooter before he collapsed, mortally wounded from gunfire.
Killian allegedly called 911 and told a dispatcher, “my wife has shot all of us and shot my children.” Killian’s wife was found lying on the floor of the home and holding the unregistered pistol Killian allegedly used in the shooting, authorities said.
Killian is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. The hearing on his pending special circumstances will be held Friday morning, court records show.