With emotions running high from opposing supporters, judge ultimately issued a final ruling

Two families just met at a fork in the legal road: Almost three years after a community mourned Corey Shearer being gunned down by a complete stranger, attorneys walked into a courtroom less than five miles from the yard where the young man was shot. They were there to argue over the nature of who Amyis Coogler – the alleged killer that night – really is.

The defense portrays Coogler as a promising person who grew up in hard circumstances and got lured down a destructive path as a teen, one that eventually led to him being arrested for Shearer’s murder in February of 2024. However, the crime happened August of 2022, when Coogler was just one month shy of his 18th birthday. Friends and family want Coogler’s case to remain in Sacramento County Juvenile Court because they claim the defendant, now 20, is still capable of change, growth and redemption. The prosecution paints a very different picture: It stresses that, time and again, Coogler has exhibited dangerous criminal thinking – someone who didn’t hesitate to put four bullets into a person he didn’t know before going on to terrorize neighborhoods from Sacramento to Modesto as part of an armed robbery crew. Law enforcement also alleges that Coogler is a gang member who’s been a violent and problematic inmate while being held in different jail facilities.

For all involved, the crux of the issue is that Coogler was in a statutory grey zone when he reportedly opened fire on Shearer during a party on Ramsgate Way.

Coogler wasn’t invited to the get-together that night, but rather spotted some sign of it online and decided to show up. Not long after, words were exchanged between him and Shearer. At least one witness saw Coogler challenge Shearer to a fight. The police report indicates that Shearer started walking towards Coogler, and then Coogler – before he was touched, as he was backing into some hedges – pulled a black mask down over his face and reached for a 9mm pistol. That’s when he allegedly started blasting rounds. People heard three quick shots, a pause, then a final clap ring out. The court record indicates that no witnesses described the incident as self-defense. Home cameras then caught a person who appears to be Coogler running through the neighborhood and hopping fences, all the while using one hand to hold his pants up. At some point, Coogler reportedly tossed his gun behind a car.

Meanwhile, Shearer lay fighting for his life on the front lawn. With four wounds in his chest, it was a fight he couldn’t win.

The Sacramento County District Attorney Office has been petitioning to have Coogler stand trial for murder in the adult court system, citing what it says is the defendant’s ongoing anti-social and assaultive behavior since Shearer’s killing.

The stakes of the seven-day court hearing couldn’t have been higher.

If Coogler was moved into the adult system and then convicted, his homicide charges could result in spending 15-years-to-life in prison. If his case remained in juvenile court, he would be released from all culpability around Shearer’s murder in just five years.   

It would ultimately be up to Sacramento County Judge Amy Holiday to make the decision. After days of testimony, she ruled that Coogler will stand trial as an adult.

The Prosecution’s case

As the hearing got underway, prosecutor Michelle Becker called sheriff’s detective Brandon Imbriale from the downtown jail’s Investigative Services Unit to the stand. Imbriale testified that Coogler is an admitted member of the West Gate Crips, which has led to being held in specific cell blocks where inmates are kept away from members of the Bloods.

“He was listed as chronic lock-picker,” Imbriale also mentioned, alluding to Coogler reportedly sneaking out of his jail cell multiple times. “I believe I counted no less than 14 incidents of him manipulating his locks, which doesn’t count his violations for being out of his cell.”   

Imbriale told the judge that Coogler’s lock-picking was so pervasive that it prompted a transfer to the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, where the prisoner was put in the 300 pod that’s designated for Capital street gangs. On Aug. 5, 2024, Coogler took part in a group assault on another detainee at that facility.

“That inmate suffered a broken collar bone,” Imbriale noted.

The next witness was Sacramento sheriff’s deputy Yee Lor, a member of jail security who’d rushed to help stop the group ambush that Coogler was videoed participating in.  

“The inmates on the lower tier were grouping or congregating,” Lor recalled as the images played in court. “Here, Coogler joins in the attack.”

Turning from the screen, Becker asked, “So, Mr. Coogler is punching and stomping the inmate after a different inmate initially started throwing blows?”

“Yes,” Lor said.  

Testimony turned to how Coogler first ended up in custody before homicide investigators linked him to Shearer’s murder. That involved having Sacramento Sheriff’s Detective Chris Robertson, an 11-year veteran in the agency’s robbery division, take the witness stand. Robertson presented a series of photographs, surveillance videos, witness statements and phone-tracking data points to show that Coogler was committing armed robberies and gun crimes in the summer of 2023. According to the detective, that included four assailants in a Chevy Malibu pulling into the parking lot of SF Market on Stockton Boulevard and physically assailing a random woman near the store for her purse. That same group of perpetrators also drove up to people eating in front of the Bamboo Café on Stockton Boulevard before immediately chasing after one of the patrons – a man named Quy Do – in order to rob him. Video allegedly shows Coogler pointing a gun at Quy Do as the man struggles to fight back during the bum-rush.

“Four of them jumped out and grabbed me and (held) my hand and tried to take my watch,” Quy Do later told ABC 10. “Two of them punched my face. I just held my watch and (tried) to get away and punch them back, and (tried) to get up and run. But they just attacked me, so I fell down like three times.”

Before that day was over, the same robbery crew was also caught on camera in Modesto. This time they were following an elderly couple home from the store to rob them at gun-point in their garage.

Robertson went over evidence that implicates Coogler in each and every crime. He also showed the court photographs of Coogler flashing a distinct gun that was stolen during a home burglary in Roseville.

Members of that robbery crew were later arrested during a traffic stop by the Sacramento Sheriff’s gang suppression unit. One of them was just 14.

Meanwhile, Sheriff’s homicide detectives had obtained DNA from a belt buckle that Shearer’s killer left at the house party. When they pulled Coogler in for the robberies, they got a direct match for the DNA on that belt.

Becker ended her petition to the court by calling members of Shearer’s family to describe the impact of Cory’s death. 

“There are no words strong enough to describe losing someone you love to this kind of random violence,” said Makenzie, one of Corey’s three sisters. “He was my protector until the day he died … All my quiet moments are filled with the screams of my family that night.”

Corey’s father, Rick Shearer, said that his son had access to family firearms but would never have considered taking one to a party.

“The last time I spoke with my son, I was leaving for my graveyard shift at the mine,” Rick Shearer remembered. “As I was putting on my boots, Corey was making dinner for his disabled sister … Corey was a gentle soul. Mr. Coogler’s actions show different. He brought a firearm to a party. He then proceeded to harass anyone he could, until he settled on a target. He then lured Corey outside, so he had plenty of avenues for escape, knowing exactly what he was going to do. This was no crime of duress … No matter what excuses you may hear, they are just that, excuses.”

Corey’s mother, Crystal Shearer, also spoke.

“Any time my girls step foot out of my sight, I’m terrified something will happen to them,” Crystal told the judge. “Having to watch my girls’ childhood and innocence be ripped away from this trauma is beyond unfair. Watching my husband hold all his pain inside to try and hold it together makes me worry every day … [Coogler] robbed us of everything. I wasn’t even able to see my beautiful boy the night everything happened. It wasn’t until several days later, when he was stiff and cold, that I got to hold him for the last time.”

The Defense’s case  

Defense attorney Keith J. Staten made a lengthy argument for keeping Coogler in the juvenile court system. He started with testimony from Leon Michael Craft, a retired Senior Probation Officer for Sacramento County.

Craft, who previously worked in juvenile hall and Probation’s gang unit, also served as president of the Coalition of Black Probation Officers. On the witness stand, Craft emphasized that there are programs in the juvenile system that can rehabilitate teens and young offenders.    

“There have been some people who have been very successful,” he observed. “I was recently at a car wash and a young man approached me. He remembered me [from being in the system]. And he’s working as a contractor now.”

The next witness was Deborah DeLoney-Deans, a licensed therapist who previously spent 23 years as a correctional officer and parole agent for the state of California. Deans had interviewed Coogler in jail for roughly two hours in hopes of evaluating him. Before Deans presented her findings, Staten asked why she switched careers from law enforcement to specializing in mental health.

“Parole wasn’t working,” Deans replied. “At least not from my perspective. A lot of the men and women who I was supervising had mental health issues that had gone unattended. I thought I could be a greater help getting into mental health.”

Deans went on to testify that Coogler, as a reputed criminal, lacks “sophistication” in his actions and motivation: She was using a legal definition for that term, intending to contextualize his maturity and forethought, but not imply that Coogler isn’t intelligent. Numerous witnesses testified that Coogler is a bright person. Some of the young man’s issues, Dean explained, stem from his father doing a long prison stint when he was little.

“He lacks emotional maturity and is very elemental in his thought-process,” Deans said. “He struggles with maintaining focus … He didn’t have a strong relationship with his father. When he did have a positive relationship with a male figure [an uncle], that relationship ended with that figure being incarcerated … He didn’t have a strong sense of control over his emotions because he didn’t have someone to help him learn to negotiate those emotions.”

Staten is generally not conceding that events on the night of Corey Shearer’s death happened the way law enforcement says they did. Nonetheless, the attorney had Deans testify about the way Coogler might act during any chaotic situation.

“He has trouble distinguishing between real and perceived threats,” Deans remarked, adding that Coogler struggles with low self-esteem, a distrust of others and authority figures, and an overall lack of self-worth.

“Do you mean adults in his life didn’t provide something for him?” Staten pressed. 

“Definitely,” Deans replied. “He didn’t get support in developing appropriate coping mechanisms.”

Deans ended her testimony by saying that she believes Coogler can be rehabilitated in the next five years – if he wants to be.

Before resting, the defense called Charles Bolton Jr. to testify. He’s a teacher at Sacramento City Unified School District, as well as volunteer with the mentorship program Improve Your Tomorrow.

“This is a program that helps young men of color get to, and through, college,” Bolton said of the program.

Prior to Shearer’s killing, Coogler was on juvenile probation after getting arrested with a backpack full of burglary tools and knife. At that point, Bolton, who’s also Coogler’s older cousin, invited him to participate in Improve Your Tomorrow.

“Through our mentorship, Amyis was able to show his very caring personality,” Bolter recounted. “He was able to work with youth and do community service. Amyis would participate daily. He went through programs such as financial management, as well as talk with our mentors about topics such as emotional intelligence and mental health.”

Asked how Coogler ended up his current situation, Bolton answered that he thought the four Sacramento-area high schools that Coogler attended had failed to properly address his behavioral and mental health needs, leaving challenges that a volunteer effort like IYT couldn’t overcome (Coogler was expelled from Capital Christian High School).

“He needed much more,” Bolton acknowledged. “This program’s arms could not wrap itself around Amyis fully. We couldn’t fill all the gaps. He needed structure, and without it, he’s not the full, adult-like person we need him to be”

He added, “I know what Amyis has been through … Where he grew up, you sort of have to take on older characteristics.”

Closing arguments and judgement

Throughout the hearing, the defense had called a dozen people from Coogler’s circle of friends and family to describe him as a helpful, thoughtful and humorous teen with the potential to live a meaningful life – if he doesn’t become institutionalized. But Becker tried to use some of those very witnesses to the prosecution’s advantage. While the defense emphasized Coogler’s father and uncle being put behind bars when he was little, Becker pointed out that the witness stand had been filled with different uncles, older cousins and family friends who were successful, community-oriented and involved as mentors in Coogler’s life.

“We heard from numerous family and community members that said he’s smart and had a lot of positives influences,” Becker rebutted.

The prosecutor then referenced computer forensics that show Coogler had read multiple news stories about Corey Shearer’s murder while he was at-large, making sure to get offline for months afterwards and delete all texts and social media posts that could link him to the slaying. And that was all before Coogler allegedly started participating in additional gun crimes.

“His conduct shows that, as he’s getting older, he’s getting more bold and more violent,” Becker told Judge Holiday. “He’s getting more callous and more brazen.”

For his part, Staten pointed out that, while Coogler was close to 18 at the moment of the crime, he simply was not 18.

“What it comes down to today is are we going to follow 707(a) of the Welfare and Institutions Code?” Staten argued. “We talk about how the guilt or innocence of a minor is not before this court right now; and yet it seems like a lot of focus around guilt or innocence is permeating this case right now. You can’t have it both ways.”

Judge Holiday took more than three weeks to render a verdict. On Friday afternoon, she looked out from the bench at both families and Coogler at the defendant’s table.

“Mr. Coogler does not have any issues with intellectual capacity and he did not have any issues with physical, mental or emotional health at the time of the offense,” Holiday pointed out. “There’s no evidence that peer pressure played a role that night … Mr. Coogler acted independently and was not a passive participant in this crime … He also participated in a brutal attack on an inmate, resulting in more adult charges. His conduct, and lack of programing, since his arrest does not indicate that he can be rehabilitated by this court.”

The judge added, “Mr. Coogler acted alone, he was the sole participant in this murder: It took more than a year to identify him, and in that time Mr. Coogler did not reflect on his actions, but instead went on to commit more violent crimes.”

Coogler is being held with no bail and will be arraigned in adult court next week in Downtown Sacramento.

Editor’s note: The author of this article briefly worked with the victim’s father 25 years ago at a factory job in Ione, but had not been in contact with him since.