The three alleged Acorn gang members are accused of opening fire on a group in west Oakland on Nov. 28. One-year-old Hiram Lawrence was shot in the head while in his father’s arms. He was taken off life support in December.
Hiram Lawrence
Three members of an infamous Oakland street gang are facing charges for their alleged roles in a shooting during the filming of rap video that left a toddler dead, authorities said Friday.
Dionte Houff, 32, and Houston Nathaniel III, 23, supposed members of the Acorn Gang, were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on more than two-dozen federal crimes including murder, assault, weapons violations and racketeering charges, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag announced in Oakland.
A third alleged gang member, Frederick Coleman, 16, is facing similar charges in state court, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said Friday. The teenager will be charged as an adult.
Investigators believe that Coleman fired the shot that killed 1-year-old Hiram Lawrence, Jr., who was shot in the head while he was in his father’s arms as the video was being produced outside a west Oakland liquor store in November.
The indictment resulted from an ongoing multiagency crackdown on violent criminals by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Oakland Police dubbed “Operation Gideon.” The federal-local partnership began about two years ago but intensified after the deaths of the toddler and two other little boys who were among the Oakland’s 110 homicides last year, authorities said.
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