Man charged in woman's fatal beating
Victim, 53, was found dead inside her home Oct. 12
An Oakland man is in jail facing murder charges in connection with the October death of a woman whom authorities believe was fatally bludgeoned, court records show.
Baraka Hussan Robertson, 42, was charged with murder and carjacking in the death of 53-year-old Belinda Washington, of Oakland. He has pleaded not guilty and is at Santa Rita Jail on a no-bail hold. His next court date, a pretrial conference, has been set for Friday, records show.
On Oct. 12, Washington was found dead inside her Oakland home on the 2500 block of 82nd Avenue. She had multiple bruises and injuries to her scalp, but police haven't identified what weapon was used to assault her. Her 2012 Ford Fusion was missing from her home.
Days later, the Ford was involved in a hit-and-run crash in Hayward, and the victim provided police a photograph of the driver. Authorities identified him as Robertson, Washington's live-in boyfriend.
After searching Robertson's Facebook account, police say they found incriminating statements Robertson made to a relative about Washington just days before the homicide.
“Come get me because I'm am about to snap and kill this b— Belinda,” one message on Oct. 9 read, according to police. Robertson allegedly went on to explain he believed Washington was spending money from his EBT card without his consent.
Robertson was arrested in October and claimed he was driving Washington's car with permission. When police asked him about her death, he stopped talking and asked for a lawyer, authorities say.
In a jail call after his arrest, Robertson reportedly told a relative that Washington had attacked him and he'd defended himself, according to police.
In May 2022, Robertson was charged with a misdemeanor count of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly striking a woman in the arm with a wooden piece of a bed frame, court records show. He had been released in that case at the time of Washington's death. That charge is still pending.