Christopher Hollis was convicted Tuesday of voluntary manslaughter in the 2005 shooting death of his friend Meleia Willis-Starbuck '07. Hollis, who knew Willis-Starbuck from high school, faced murder charges for firing a gun into a crowd of people in which Willis-Starbuck was standing.
Willis-Starbuck, who was spending her sophomore summer interning in her hometown of Berkeley, Calif., called Hollis early on the morning of July 17, 2005, to ask for assistance with an altercation she and a group of women were having with members of the University of California, Berkeley football team. Hollis arrived at the scene in a vehicle driven by his friend, shot repeatedly into the crowd and drove away.
The trial centered on Hollis's motives for shooting. Now 24, Hollis maintained that he was acting to defend Willis-Starbuck from what he perceived as aggression on the part of the football players. In a previous statement to The Dartmouth, deputy district attorney Elgin Lowe said Hollis did not see Willis-Starbuck when he shot into the crowd, and therefore may have been acting to defend her reputation, but not to save her from imminent danger.
In his statements, Lowe indicated he would "respect" the jury if they returned a manslaughter, and not a murder, verdict. Lowe reiterated that sentiment Tuesday afternoon outside of the courthouse, according to The Daily Californian.
Hollis was also found guilty of assault with a firearm and of being a felon in possession of a gun. Various sources reported he could face between six and 21 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for July 14.
A video of the reading of the verdict at the Alameda County Superior Court, posted on the web site of KTVU 2 News, shows Hollis hearing the convictions solemnly, with little change of expression, though he embraced his attorney, assistant public defender Greg Syren, after the court adjourned.
The driver and another passenger in the vehicle each testified against Hollis during preliminary hearings in 2006. Christopher Wilson, the driver, agreed to testify against Hollis in return for a reduction in his charges from murder to accessory to murder after the fact. In return for immunity, Gregory Mitchell took the stand to say he was in the vehicle with Hollis, but stated that he was drunk and sleeping at the time of the shooting.
Despite the relief of the lesser sentence, Syren said no real victory had been achieved.
"It's a victory for him, but at the same time it's a message to people that you don't bring handguns to situations," Syren said to The Daily Californian.
Lowe told The Dartmouth that this case illustrates how gun violence is simply "wrong."
Calls to Syren were not returned by press time and Lowe could not be reached for additional comments.
