Trial setting reshuffled for Fairfield man charged with fatal shooting

A Solano County Superior Court has reshuffled a trial setting date for a 35-year-old Fairfield man charged with a 2018 fatal shooting of another man that investigators believe was prompted by a squabble over a parking space in a Fairfield apartment complex.

Keith Levin Coon was scheduled to appear Tuesday in Department 1 for a readiness conference and a trial setting, but Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman instead ordered him to return for the same proceedings at 8:30 a.m. May 12 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. Coon was most recently represented by Deputy Public Defender Dustin Latka.

Coon is accused of the June 9, 2018, shooting death of Melvin Moore, 39, in an East Travis Boulevard apartment complex parking lot, a killing caught on surveillance video.

After a mid-June 2019 preliminary hearing, visiting Judge William C. Harrison noted that images from a video appeared to show Coon shooting a weapon directed at Moore. Referring to testimony from forensic pathologist Dr. Arnold Josselson

of Fairfield, Harrison also noted the fatal bullet ricocheted off a building, then “flattened and entered” the victim’s skull and brain.

Agreeing with Deputy District Attorney Eric Charm, who is prosecuting the case, Harrison said a gun enhancement was warranted — a viewer of the video could see “two flashes” of gunfire, the judge added — so he allowed the allegation.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Coon faces 25 years to life in state prison, with possibly more time added for the special firearm enhancement and a prior strike.

Key testimony in the hearing came from Fairfield police Detective Michael Arimboanga, of the department’s major crimes unit, who spent parts of two days on the witness stand.

Arimboanga described Coon’s actions and Moore’s death as seen on the surveillance video, images recorded by several different cameras, with the time and date stamp clearly visible in the upper left corner of the video monitor.

Court records indicate that Coon was arrested on June 27 in connection to Moore’s slaying and was booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of murder and on a warrant for driving with a suspended license, failure to appear and reckless driving. He has a prior felony record for a robbery in Ventura County, according to court documents.

According to police records, at about 10:30 p.m. June 9, gunfire erupted in the Orchard Crossing Apartments parking lot in the 600 block of East Travis Boulevard. Responding officers found the wounded Moore, who was later pronounced dead at the scene.

An investigation revealed that Moore and Coon had argued in the parking lot of the apartment complex, apparently over a parking space, with words escalating into the shooting.

Coon was identified as the shooter and he later turned up in San Pablo, in Contra Costa County. With the help of San Pablo police officers, he was arrested around 12:30 p.m. June 10 in the 1300 block of Pine Avenue.

Coon remains in Stanton Correctional in Fairfield. the Facility