The mother of the man suspected in the death of Oakley resident Alexis Gabe three years ago will not face charges as an accessory to the crime, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Gabe, 24, was last seen alive on Jan. 26, 2022, when she drove to the the Antioch home of her ex-boyfriend, Marshall Curtis Jones III.
Gabe’s car was found abandoned in Oakley and authorities believe Jones killed her and took her body to the Sierra foothills. Her partial remains were found in November 2022 in Amador County, along with duct tape and black plastic trash bags.
Jones, 27, was fatally shot by police in Kent, Washington, in June 2022, after he reportedly charged at police with a knife when they went to arrest him in connection with the killing.
Prosecutors had investigated whether Jones’ mother, Alicia Coleman-Clark, had acted as an accessory after the fact in connection with Gabe’s death.
Following a meeting with Gabe’s family, the district attorney’s office, along with Oakley and Antioch police, pursued additional investigative leads.
Those included obtaining a warrant to search flight purchase records, to determine whether Coleman-Clark had facilitated the purchase of an airline ticket for her son’s flight to Seattle in February 2022.
The records didn’t show that Coleman-Clark was involved in the ticket purchase, but instead it appeared the flight was arranged through a third-party vendor, the district attorney’s office said.
The investigation also included a forensic exam of clothing found with Gabe’s remains and a re-interview with Coleman-Clark’s former boyfriend.
Prosecutors also looked into efforts to find a second plastic bag that had been recovered with Gabe’s body, to test it for DNA. The second bag wasn’t with the woman’s remains that were sent to California State University, Chico for forensic testing.
“After an exhaustive effort by Antioch and Oakley Police to determine its whereabouts, law enforcement confirmed to the District Attorney’s Office the bag was never provided to any local law enforcement agency. As such, there is no second bag to test for the presence of a contributor’s DNA.”
The district attorney’s office concluded that although some information had raised suspicion about Coleman-Clark, there was insufficient evidence to charge her.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Gabe family for the unimaginable loss of Alexis,” District Attorney Diana Becton said. “Our office has worked tirelessly over the past three years to pursue every lead. While we have concluded our investigation into this matter, we remain committed to supporting the Gabe family.”
Gabe’s family voiced their displeasure with the decision in a social media post Thursday. “We are extremely disappointed,” wrote Gwyn Gabe, Alexis’ father, on the Justice for Alexis Gabe Facebook group. “We just concluded a conversation with DA Diana Becton and DA Simon O’Connell. Despite having a substantial amount of evidence, they still declined to pursue charges.”
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