ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: Mom of innocent bystander shot, killed in Oakland speaks out

Byby Melanie Woodrow KGO logo
Saturday, November 21, 2015
EXCLUSIVE: Mom of innocent bystander killed in Oakland speaks out
The mother of a young man who police say was an innocent bystander shot and killed outside an Oakland nightclub is speaking exclusively to ABC7 News ahead of a lawsuit she will be filing against the club.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The family of a man shot and killed outside an Oakland nightclub is taking legal action against the club. Emilio Nevarez was killed in April, on early Easter morning. Oakland police say the 26-year-old was an innocent bystander. The gunman remains on the loose. The victim's mother, Bernadette Valadez, sat down for an exclusive interview you'll see only on ABC7 News.

Bernadette is understandably still grieving the loss of her son. ABC7 News went to the Golden Bull Bar on 14th and Franklin streets to speak with the owner about a lawsuit that will be filed Monday. That's when we discovered new bullet holes outside. The owner says there was another shooting on Thursday night.

On Easter Sunday, the music for the Valadez family stopped.

"Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to our family?" asked Bernadette.

Bernadette Valadez was waiting for a call from her son. Instead, Oakland PD called.

She says they told her, "Your son has been shot and he's dead."

The 26-year-old, who played bass for a group called The Lucky Eejits, was shot outside Golden Bull Bar. He had just finished performing at a friend's birthday. Police said he was an innocent bystander.

"At that point I got the ham and I threw it in the garbage and at that point that's pretty much how the day went," said the victim's mother.

There are no plans for Thanksgiving.

"We lost everything and not all the Christmas trees and presents in the world or the turkey on the table none of that will ever make it right for me," said Bernadette.

Attorney Brian Kabateck adds, "We believe that the bouncers work for the club and that the club is 100 percent responsible for this."

Kabateck will file a wrongful death lawsuit on the family's behalf Monday. He says the suspect made threats at the club earlier in the evening that had nothing to do with Emilio.

"They didn't call the police they didn't do anything to protect him," he said.

"We are willing to do whatever it takes to help get this shooter caught," said Golden Bull owner Patrick Vigil.

The club's owner says they turned over surveillance video to OPD. There are fresh bullet holes from Thursday night outside Golden Bull Bar. One bullet broke the glass of a neighboring business. No one was hurt.

"It's just another shooting, you know? And I can't tie the two together," said Vigil.

"These kinds of crimes have to be solved otherwise that person will go out another day another night and pull out that gun and it will be another person, another innocent person," said Bernadette.

There is a $42,000 reward for information in Emilio's murder.

Oakland police did not respond to ABC7 News' request for information about the most recent shooting.