Personal belongings and evidence markers lie on the sidewalk as Oakland police investigate a fatal shooting in the 1400 block of 100th Avenue near International Boulevard in East Oakland, Calif., on Monday, March 17, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND — Prosecutors here have charged a woman with killing a man as he entered a grocery shop on International Boulevard, a crime for which she allegedly received crack cocaine as a payment, according to court records.
Johnna Hall, 52, was charged in September with murdering Luther Gilmore Sr., 63, by shooting him in the back of the head near the entrance to a store on March 18. Despite suffering a gunshot wound near his ear, Gilmore survived for about two weeks and died at a hospital, police said.
Hall later allegedly bragged about the killing, telling a witness that an unidentified woman known as “Boss Lady” provided her with a gun for the hit and paid her in crack cocaine afterward. The motive reportedly related to a disagreement between Gilmore and the unidentified woman, authorities said.
Hall’s profession is listed in the jail log as an “in home caregiver.”
A little before 7 p.m. on March 18, Gilmore allegedly walked into a grocery market on the 8400 block of International Boulevard in Oakland, where Hall was allegedly waiting by the door. He allegedly shot Gilmore, then she and a yet-to-be identified man rifled through Gilmore’s pockets, taking a firearm and various other items, according to authorities.
Hall fled the area in a vehicle being driven by a woman, authorities said. When Hall was arrested on Sept. 4, she denied any involvement and requested a lawyer, according to court records.
She pleaded not guilty at a Sept. 11 court appearance. Her preliminary hearing has not yet been set but she is next due in court in late November, records show.
Hall has a lengthy criminal record that includes a 2008 incident where she was shot in the arm by an Oakland officer, after allegedly running over the officer’s foot. This news organization reported at the time that Hall was doing doughnuts and fishtailing in a BMW when police attempted to arrest her, and that she later told police she tried to flee because she didn’t want to go back to prison for violating parole.
Hall has eight felony convictions between 1993 and 2024, including three separate convictions for assault and another for felony battery, according to court records.
In addition to the recent murder count, prosecutors have charged Hall with being a felon in possession of a gun and ammunition.
Originally published at Nate Gartrell