Oakland murder case dismissed after a year

OAKLAND — Almost exactly a year after he was charged with murder, a 62-year-old man walked out of jail when prosecutors threw out the case against him for reasons that weren’t explicitly stated at the court hearing.

Gregory Szugyi, who also goes by Gregory Dubelle, had been charged with murdering 36-year-old Antonio Poole in an April 2024 shooting on Kennedy Street in Oakland. Police said at the time that Poole was shot with a rifle, and an officer found him lying dead in the street, wearing a ski mask. A witness later told police that when he asked another onlooker to call 911, the person profanely declined, claiming Poole had just tried to rob him.

Szugyi was identified by witnesses and arrested the day after the shooting, authorities said. But last May, prosecutors moved to dismiss their own case. A one-page transcript of the court hearing says the prosecutor cited “insufficient evidence,” without elaboration. Szugyi spent 13 months in jail while the case was pending.

Poole’s family is unhappy with the result. In an email to this newspaper, his sister condemned the “injustice, corruption, and racism from people that have been sworn in under oath and vowed to protect and serve their community has failed my family.”

“Antonio was loving, caring and acted as the father of all his sisters. Antonio leaves behind to mourn his two children, eleven siblings and mother,” the email says.