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4 months ago
15
An abusive squatter has been found guilty of the murder of a father-of-four whose house he overtook in 2020.
Jamal Thomas, 47, harassed the Oakland family for months before committing the cold-blooded killing of 44-year-old Miles Armstead.
Armstead had been a wealth management banker in nearby Fremont, and had been running away from the suspect when he was shot May 1, 2020.
That day, Armstead and his wife, Melina, had decided to cut their losses on the home they'd saved hard to buy only for Thomas to ambush them and kill Armstead - spurring a suit against the Oakland PD that claimed the cops had failed them.
They'd previously called Oakland Police Department 23 times begging for help, only for cops there to turn a blind eye. Officers also allegedly mocked Armstead's plight by dismissing him and Thomas as being 'like two twelve year-old girls.'
Jamal Thomas, 47, harassed the Oakland family for months before committing the murder, where he ended 44-year-old Miles Armstead's life in cold blood
Armstead had been a wealth management banker in nearby Fremont, and had been running away from the suspect when he was shot May 1, 2020. He was killed in front of his wife Melina after deciding to sell the home because of the suspect's abuse
'I first want to thank the jury for their diligent work in delivering this guilty verdict,' said Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price following the anticipated judgment three years in the making.
'We recognize this horrific tragedy leaves a wife without a husband and her children without a father and a community forever traumatized by this unacceptable and vicious attack on an unarmed man.'
Alameda County District Attorney's Office added: 'The incident was preceded by months of verbal attacks by Mr. Thomas against Mr. Armstead and his family, which had escalated to rock and brick throwing through the windows of the victim's home.
Officials further revealed how at the time of his death, Armstead had been doing landscaping on his house to prepare it for sale because of the harassment by Thomas, who was arrested seven hours later at a nearby motel.
Neighbors identified Thomas after he pulled the trigger execution-style in broad daylight, spurring a federal lawsuit that alleged the incident could have been avoided if officers had only taken the family's claims seriously.
The ongoing April 2023 suit alleges that starting in November 2019, a pattern of harassment from Thomas - the home's previous tenant - began, two months after they had moved in.
'On Thanksgiving Day of 2019, Thomas frantically banged on the front door of the Armsteads' home yelling unintelligibly as he tried to break in,' the suit said of how the police department's inaction failed the family.
'Unfortunately, this was just the first incident in a six-month sequence of increasingly harassing and threatening behavior directed at the Armstead family,' it continued, detailing the dangers Armstead and his family were exposed to over six months.
Armstead had recently moved into the home on 76th and Ney with his pregnant second wife, Melina, and his three children, when the harassment began. He was in the process of moving them out when he was shot by Thomas, who was squatting in the home nextdoor (seen here)
'Initially, the persistent pattern of threats and harassment consisted of taunts, verbal threats, door knocking, doorbell ringing and other nuisance type behavior,' the suit read.
'The Armsteads faithfully called and reported the incidents to the police. Nevertheless, Defendant Officers working for the Oakland Police Department failed to make an arrest, detain, and/or curb the behavior.'
Instead, lawyers demanding damages for the family's pain and suffering said officers would arrive and complain 'they were understaffed, overworked and the family's pleas for help were not high priorities.'
The suit adds how officers made these comments outside, all within earshot of Thomas right next door - 'implicitly communicating to him that he could continue his harassment with impunity.'
It also alleges that one OPD officer, apparently fed up with Armistead's complaints, told the two men that they had been 'acting like 12-year-old girls.'
That report was made by Oakland Officer Alejandro Padilla on February 26, 2020, according to the suit, and came shortly before Padilla and his partner arrested Thomas after arriving on the scene to find the suspect threatening Armstead with a baseball bat.
Officers allegedly only responded to the call - the 11th from the family since November - after Armstead told them the suspect threatened to burn down Armstead's house with his family inside.
A photograph shows the eventual murderer letting off a chilling grin after being arrested for harassing the family with a baseball bat on February 26, 2020 - a smile the suit alleged stemmed from officers' hesitance to believe the man he would eventually kill a month later
A wrongful death suit alleges the Oakland Police Department failed the father, who is survived by four children and his wife and called the department dozens of times over the course of six months
The lawsuit includes photos of Jamal seated in Padilla's patrol car during his arrest, flashing a grin that the family says demonstrated his satisfaction that cops were not taking Armstead seriously.
Lawyers would add how Thomas 'had obvious mental health issues [that] contributed to him experiencing violent, uncontrollable yet persistent outbursts' - though officers would still release him less than 48 hours after his arrest.
The perp with two priors would kill Armistead just a month later, and has been incarcerated since.
The suit also alleges the department had three police reports on file detailing violent acts committed by the suspect, including an incident wherein a then pregnant Melina sustained serious injuries 'from broken glass that struck her' during one of his tirades
When Armistead responded Thomas had been terrorizing his family, Padilla 'proceeded to berate' the dad for what he claimed was furthering the conflict.
'In response,' the suit adds, 'Thomas knowingly smiled acknowledging Ofc. Padilla's comments and obviously interpreting them as assurances that officers were not going to intervene on Miles' behalf.'
It adds that 'Oakland Officers made these comments outside of the Armstead home, well within earshot of Mr. Thomas, who had taken up residence next door.
'On information and belief, Mr. Thomas heard the Defendant Officers discount the severity of the situation, implicitly communicating to him that he could continue his harassment with impunity.'
At the time, the department - plagued by a series of leadership shuffles since 2009 - was commanded by Interim Chief Susan Manheimer, but has had several chiefs since
It adds that Thomas - whose downward spiral came as he came faced with the prospect of homelessness after being evicted - eventually killed Armstead due to the failures of not only the Oakland Police Department, but the presiding county of Alameda as well.
Both departments maintain they did all they could in the long-running saga between the two men, by making the February arrest and issuing a warrant for a second prior to the May 1 murder.
Officers also blamed the judicial system after facing backlash on the heels of the murder, arguing the state courts missed an opportunity 'to keep this gentleman in custody' and out him back on the street.
At the time, California's Judicial Council enacted emergency powers to set bail at zero in misdemeanor and low-level felony cases - all to prevent the spread of coronavirus in jails.
If Thomas had been arrested for an alleged offense in March 2020 that saw him hurl a brick through the family's window, 'he would've been out of jail in six or seven hours,' Alameda County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told the Chronicle at the time.
Since then, the force has had more than ten chiefs, with the most recent seeing Manheimer's replacement LeRonne Armstrong (right ousted in February of last year - after an independent investigation concluded the chief and the department failed to properly investigate and discipline a sergeant who was involved in a hit-and-run with his patrol car in 2021)
'It's heartbreaking that this gentleman lost his life,' the official said. 'I mean, how many more red flags do you need?'
Nonetheless, Kelly's department remains on the list of defendants, along with the Oakland Police Department - which at the time was commanded by Interim Chief Susan Manheimer - amid a series of leadership shuffles that have been going on there since 2009.
Since then, the force has had a dozen chiefs, with the most recent seeing Manheimer's replacement LeRonne Armstrong ousted in February - after an independent investigation concluded the chief and the department failed to properly investigate and discipline a sergeant who was involved in a hit-and-run with his patrol car in 2021.
This past March, Mayor Sheng Thao announced the appointment of the latest Oakland Police Chief, Floyd Mitchell.
As for Thomas, he faces 36 years and 9 months to life in prison for the offense, and is scheduled to be sentenced in Mid-August.
In 1995, he was convicted of unlawfully taking a vehicle, and in 2012, he was found guilty of drunk driving.
When asked about the still-pending suit, a PIO for the Oakland police force said: 'The Oakland Police Department does not comment on pending litigation.'
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