Suspect in BART slaying surrenders to police

The final suspect in a series of unrelated homicides at BART stations over a five-day period this month turned himself in to police Monday, officials said.

Twenty-four-year-old Jashawn Combs of Fremont walked into the Eastmont police station in Oakland, alongside his mother and uncle, and invoked his right to an attorney in connection to the fatal attack on a BART station platform in San Leandro, said Ed Alvarez, a BART police deputy chief.

Combs was booked into Santa Rita County Jail on suspicion of murder, Alvarez said.

Combs allegedly punched Don Stevens, 47, with a closed fist at around 1:20 a.m. on July 21 on the platform of the Bay Fair Station. Stevens, a transient, fell and hit his head on the concrete platform, according to BART.

Officers performed CPR on Stevens until fire personnel and paramedics arrived, officials said. Stevens was rushed to the hospital with a pulse but was later declared brain dead.

Detectives reviewed video footage from the station and train to learn a physical attack

had occurred and circulated photos of a man later identified as Combs.

“It’s just another perfect example of BART video cameras working and being able to capture the image that hopefully was the one that helped us take him into custody,” Alvarez said. “We made it clear he was wanted, and it got to the point where he did the right thing and turned himself in.”

On July 23, BART police arrested 27-yearold John Lee Cowell in connection with the killing of 18-year-old Nia Wilson the previous night at the MacArthur BART Station. Cowell allegedly stabbed Wilson and her 26-year-old sister, Lahtifa, in an unprovoked attack.

The incident that left Stevens dead surfaced only after Nia Wilson was fatally stabbed. BART authorities released footage of Combs and Cowell the next day.

In homicide July 18, BART police arrested 20-year-old Abdul Bey after he was allegedly involved in a physical confrontation with 51year-old Gerald Bisbee at the Pleasant Hill Station. Bisbee suffered a cut to the back of his knee as a result and later died due to an infection, officials said.