Prosecutors start laying out case in death of boy, 2

OAKLAND >> Alameda County prosecutors began building a methodical case Monday during the first day of what is expected to be a week-long preliminary hearing for three men accused of fatally shooting 2-year-old Jasper Wu in 2021.

Defendants Johnny Jackson, of Richmond, Ivory Bivins, of Vallejo, and Trevor Green, of Richmond, all appeared in Alameda County Superior Court on Monday in the death of the boy, who was fatally wounded while riding in a car with his family on Interstate 880. All three men are charged with murder, shooting at an occupied vehicle; and being a felon in possession of a gun. Bivins and Green also are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and criminal street gang conspiracy, according to court documents.

Shortly before 2:10 p.m. Nov. 6, 2021, the boy, Fremont resident Jasper Wu, was riding in a Lexus sedan driven by his mother southbound on I-880 near Filbert Street when he was struck by a bullet. He was taken to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, where he succumbed to his injury.

Then-outgoing Alameda County district attorney Nancy O'Malley announced charges in December 2022, saying that the killing “happened because two rival gangs were having a rolling gun battle on (Interstate) 880 going northbound across the freeway at two o'clock in the afternoon.”

Jackson's attorney before the hearing called the case “tragic” but said Jackson was not involved and “I fully expect to ask that all charges be dropped.”

During the hearing Monday, CHP Officer Lawrence-Christopher Finley told Judge Scott Patton that he and a partner responded to reports of a shooting on southbound I-880 and encountered “many pedestrians screaming at us, `He's shot! We need help!' “

During his testimony, Finley identified photos he had taken of the scene showed what appeared to be a bullet entry to the front side of the driver's side