A two-time felon who had two warrants out for his arrest was
charged with murder and other counts on Friday for a hit-and-run collision in Berkeley
earlier this month that killed a homeless woman.
Alexander McGee, 29, of Oakland, is scheduled to be
arraigned late on Friday for the crash on a sidewalk near University Avenue and
Sixth Street at about 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 20 that killed Bernadette Youngbear.
The Alameda County coroner’s office said the victim in the collision
was 58 years old and homeless but hasn’t released her name because next of kin
haven’t been located and notified. Her name, however, was included in the
charging documents filed by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office.
Police allege that McGee, who has prior convictions in
Alameda County for first-degree residential burglary and corporal injury to a spouse’s
parent, was fleeing in a car from a University of California police officer
when the crash occurred.
Berkeley police Sgt. Jennifer Wilson wrote in a probable
cause statement that the woman was in the passenger seat of a gray 2011 Nissan Maxima
that was stopped near a gas station at University Avenue and Sixth Street and
was screaming “no” and “stop.”
Wilson said the UC officer tried to intervene and approached
the Nissan and saw the male driver, later identified as McGee, punch the female
passenger in the head several times.
Wilson said McGee made a U-turn and drove west on the
sidewalk while evading the officer.
Wilson wrote that McGee then drove over Youngbear, who was
lying on the sidewalk, and dragged her.
The suspect’s car then continued west onto the University
Avenue overpass and onto nearby Interstate Highway 80, according to Wilson.
Youngbear was pronounced dead at the scene.
Wilson said that on Jan. 24 investigators were able to find
the woman who had been in the Nissan with McGee and she told them that on Jan.
20 he punched her in the head and face multiple times and pulled braids out of her
head.
The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, said
she screamed for help and tried to get away but McGee grabbed her and wouldn’t let
her out of the car, according to Wilson.
The woman had visible injuries, including a cut on her eye
and a bald spot where her hair was ripped out, Wilson said.
The woman also told investigators that after the fatal
collision McGee told her not to talk to police and said she believes McGee
might kill her, Wilson wrote.
The 2011 Nissan Maxima was located in Oakland on Jan. 24 and
hair and suspected blood was recovered from underneath the car, according to Wilson.
McGee was arrested in the 100 block of 32nd Street in
Oakland at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday and is being held at the Santa Rita Jail
without bail.
When McGee was arrested he was still on probation for a
prior drug offense and there were warrants for him for felony evasion and
burglary, Wilson said.
In addition to murder, McGee is charged with vehicular manslaughter
with gross negligence, evading an officer causing death, leaving the scene of
an accident and felony corporal injury to a relationship partner.
Source: NBC Bay Area