OAKLAND — The man accused of gunning down a state parole agent inside his East Oakland office last month pleaded not guilty Friday to the first on-duty killing of a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer in seven years.
Bryan Keith Hall, 48, stood silently while his public defender entered the plea before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael T. Risher. Shackled and appearing in green-and-white striped jail attire, Hall said only “yes,” and “I do,” when asked whether he wanted to waive his right to a preliminary hearing in the coming coming weeks, and whether he understood he had that right.
In the courtroom gallery, dozens of state parole officers and other California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employees looked on.
The hearing came more than a month after authorities suspect Hall fatally shot 40-year-old Joshua Byrd, who had spent the last decade working for the agency, mostly at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.
On July 17, Byrd was working in the Division of Adult Parole Operations office on Edgewater Drive when Hall walked in and asked to talk to his parole agent. Hall’s arrival came a day after he missed a scheduled meeting with his parole agent.
Hall signed in at about 12:40 p.m. that day, but was told to leave the building, because his parole officer was not there, according to court records. At some point after that, Byrd was shot and Hall was seen fleeing the building and holding a gun, court records show. Police found three shell casings at the crime scene, authorities said.
A motive for the shooting remained unclear Friday. Hall appeared to use a gun he brought to the facility, according to the California Highway Patrol — raising questions about security measures at a building where parolees routinely check in with their parole officers.
Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said days after the shooting that investigators had found no signs of Hall and Byrd having any prior contact.
Hall was arrested hours later near 90th Avenue and International Boulevard in East Oakland, after authorities suspect he robbed a passenger on an AC Transit bus and commandeered a vehicle. He was taken San Leandro Hospital, after an officer saw Hall ingest some type of narcotic, authorities said. The drugs allegedly left him unable to talk to investigators for a time, authorities added, because he was mumbling and unable to stand on his own.
Later, he was taken to Santa Rita Jail, where he remained held Friday without bail.
Hall had been on parole since Feb. 5, when he was sentenced to four years in prison for a random stabbing in 2022 on Lakeshore Avenue near Lake Merritt. Hall was immediately released at his sentencing hearing because he had already spent more than two years in county jail awaiting trial, and a judge allowed him to cut his sentence in half for good behavior, court records show.
Hall faces 10 counts tied to the killing of Byrd and his alleged flight from it, including charges of murder, robbery and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle. He also faces a special circumstance enhancement, which could leave him in prison for life without the possibility of parole if he’s convicted.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at [email protected].
