Alameda County DA charges Oakland man who allegedly killed girlfriend, drove her body around to commit second homicide
Amadi Monroe is now charged with murdering Brenda Diaz as part of a wild shooting spree that included two homicides and a nonfatal drive-by.
OAKLAND — Six months after the Alameda County District Attorney announced her office was working through “jurisdictional issues” to bring a second murder case against an Oakland man, that hurdle has apparently been cleared.
Amadi Monroe, 35, has already been in jail since last summer, facing charges that he murdered a close friend, but now he’s got a second murder case to reckon with. In late March, prosecutors filed charges of murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle, filing a criminal complaint that claims Monroe murdered his girlfriend as well.
Both killings happened on the same day.
The police investigation determined that Monroe killed 30-year-old Brenda Diaz, then drove with her body in his vehicle to the Oakland home of Jerald Larnell Clark II, whom he allegedly shot and killed as well.
That disturbing detail provided a unique jurisdictional issue, challenging prosecutors to establish exactly where Diaz had been killed. Monroe’s vehicle traveled to San Rafael, Contra Costa, and Oakland on Aug. 8, 2023, and he later confessed to killing Diaz in a Target parking lot in Marin County, according to authorities. He was also accused of a nonfatal shooting in Richmond.
In September, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced her office was considering charging Monroe with murdering Diaz on top of the Clark murder case.
The mere fact that Diaz’s killing may have occurred in Marin County didn’t totally close the door on Alameda County handling both cases, but it did require both jurisdictions to work together and figure things out. With Monroe in custody since Aug. 11 — when he was arrested and charged with killing Clark — time was on prosecutors’ side.
In Clark’s killing, authorities say Monroe had become fixated on his onetime friend since bailing out from jail in a prior non-injury shooting case. His release came after a judge noted “I really shouldn’t do that,” and then lowered Monroe’s bail. Police allege Monroe lured Clark outside of his Oakland home by asking to buy a bag of cocaine, then shot him.
Clark was shot and killed around 9 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2023, roughly two hours after Monroe allegedly killed Diaz, police said. Monroe ultimately drove the Lexus containing Diaz’s body to the 900 block of 22nd Avenue in Oakland, parked the car, and texted a member of Diaz’s family to confess what he did, authorities said.
Diaz’s body was found in the car on the morning of Aug. 11, hours before Monroe was arrested, police said.
Monroe’s arraignment has been set for May 7. His bail has been revoked, meaning he cannot be released from jail.