OAKLAND — A Stockton man has accepted a voluntary manslaughter conviction and a 16-year prison sentence in connection with the killing of his sister’s boyfriend and shooting of a family dog, court records show.
Sammie Brown, 31, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the killing of 23-year-old Karongie Louis Bell, as part of a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors. He is set to be formally sentenced on June 24 to a term of 16 years.
Brown was originally charged with murdering Bell and with shooting a family dog, but those charges were dropped as part of the deal. Police said at the time that on Aug. 27, 2020, Bell challenged Brown to a fistfight on the 1100 block of 76th Avenue in East Oakland, and that Brown responded by pulling out a gun and opening fire.
Brown’s lawyer argued at the preliminary hearing that Brown was a “protector” and that domestic violence by Bell against Brown’s family member was at the root of the killing. Brown’s sister had accused Bell of assaulting her and called him earlier in the day, according to testimony at the hearing.
Brown later told police that Bell had a pistol with an extended magazine, but police say no other eyewitnesses mentioned seeing it. Brown also told police that he didn’t mean to shoot the dog.
Brown has been in jail since September 2020, when he was identified as a suspect and arrested, court records show.
