Judge dismisses man’s murder charge over deadly Emeryville confrontation

EMERYVILLE — A murder charge has been dismissed against one of two men arrested in a deadly shooting outside a liquor store, court records show.

Isaac Landry, 51, no longer faces the charge in the Sept. 2 shooting of 43-year-old Robert Abeyta, a Rodeo resident shot during an early morning fight outside a store on the 3800 block of San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville. Landry still faces charges of being an accessory after the fact — a felony — and leading police on a brief chase, a misdemeanor, records show

Landry’s co-defendant, 52-year-old Armand Watson, is charged with murder and gun possession. Police say that during a fight outside the store, Watson responded to a threat by Abeyta by saying, “you’re going to kill who?” then shooting Abeyta in the head. Landry then allegedly stomped on Abeyta’s head after he was fatally shot.

Both men were charged with murder, but at a November preliminary hearing, Judge Thomas Reardon said there wasn’t enough evidence to uphold Landry’s murder charge and threw it out. He released Landry from jail the same day but gave him a 6 p.m. curfew. Both men pleaded not guilty on Nov. 26 and are next due in court in January, records show.

At the hearing, police and an eyewitness testified to Abeyta’s aggressive, racist behavior before the shooting. About a half-hour he was killed, he threatened a Black woman and called her racist slurs several times for walking to closely to his car, she testified. Landry’s attorney said he also made “monkey sounds” at her.

Later, Abeyta told Landry, “get the (expletive) out of here,” and then added a racial slur during the confrontation. Landry and Watson were at the store together to buy cigarettes when they began arguing with Abeyta, police testified. The entire thing was caught on security cameras at the store.

At first, Landry told Watson and Abeyta to “break it up” when they began to go back and forth. During the confrontation, Abeyta threatened the men, and reached for his waistband. Watson later told police he thought Abeyta had a knife, but police say he didn’t actually have one.

Prosecutors argued that Watson appeared “calm” and methodically retrieved his gun from his car and killed Abeyta. They argued in court that Landry’s “support played a key role in emboldening Mr. Watson to repeatedly shoot the victim in this case” and that him stomping on Abeyta’s head after the shooting showed incredible “callousness.”

Abeyta was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds at a hospital later that morning. A pathologist determined the head stomps didn’t play a role in his death, police testified.

During police questioning, Landry said he regretted that Abeyta was killed.

“I wasn’t trying to kill the man,” Landry said, adding that he “would not do that over a simple argument,” an Emeryville police detective testified.