She was charged in a deadly Oakland shootout that left her paralyzed, and given probation. Now facing a new attempted murder case, she’s out of jail again

OAKLAND — Over the past two years, 23-year-old Tyja Braswell’s life has been full of tumultuous ups and downs, each more drastic than the last.

Since March 2022 — when she was paralyzed in a shootout that left an innocent bystander dead — Braswell has been charged with murder, released from jail, watched her friend die after the car they were in was shot up, been sent back to jail, avoided a murder or manslaughter conviction through a plea deal, and been released to a two-year probation term.

Then, just six months after being discharged to probation, Braswell was arrested and charged with attempted murder once again, this time for allegedly shooting at the very same woman who Braswell was confronting just before the 2022 fatal shootout.

Throughout it all, Braswell has spent a grand total of approximately three months behind bars, with much of that spent at a medical facility with an armed guard from the Alameda County Sheriff’s office, due to her disability, according to court records. She is currently out of jail on her own recognizance, with conditions similar to those that authorities say she has violated numerous times before.

Braswell’s turbulent story starts on March 19, 2022, when she and a woman named Tamia Foster argued at a gas station on International Boulevard in Oakland, prompting Braswell to reach into her fanny pack for a gun. Foster’s boyfriend, Stavon Moore, already had a gun at the ready and began firing, striking Braswell but also fatally wounding 64-year-old Rodney Davis, a veteran who was there to buy drugs from Braswell, according to police and witness testimony.

Braswell was hit in the spine and paralyzed from that day forward. Police investigated Davis’ killing and prosecutors ended up charging both Braswell and Moore with murder in Davis’ death, as well as attempting to kill one another. Foster was charged with passing the gun to Moore just before the shooting.

Moore took his case to trial last year, where his attorney argued that the blame for everything lay with Braswell, not Moore. Jurors apparently agreed, and acquitted Moore of everything but possessing the gun he used to kill Davis and paralyze Braswell. He was sentenced to six years behind bars.

While that case was playing out, Braswell remained out of jail, despite the pending murder charges. The county’s probation department cited her for dozens of violations of pretrial release conditions, including absconding from a GPS ankle monitoring system, and disobeying a court-ordered curfew.

One violation was impossible to deny: On April 29, 2023, at around 2:30 a.m., Braswell was driving with a friend when a man named Bernard Jimmerson allegedly riddled their car with bullets because he was upset at their noisy vehicle.

Braswell survived the shooting, but responding officers noted that she was clearly not at home as she had been ordered to be after-hours. Braswell’s friend, Marie Villa Bedford, was struck by gunfire and died. Jimmerson was later arrested and charged with murder.

Five months later, a judge agreed to probation’s recommendation and ordered Braswell into custody — though she didn’t go to jail. She was kept in a medical facility with an armed guard “at significant cost to the county,” her lawyer wrote in a legal motion. Just a month later, a plea deal was struck — she pleaded no contest to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was given a two-year probation term.

“My understanding is, you are not going to State Prison, you are going to be on probation, but if at some point you violate any term or condition of probation, you could then be sent to prison for the maximum of six years,” Judge Delia Trevino warned Braswell at her October 2023 change of plea hearing. “Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” Braswell responded.

But according to police, Braswell did violate her probation six months later, by attempting to kill Foster. The shooting occurred last May 30, at around 9:50 p.m. It was strikingly similar to the April 2023 shooting that Braswell had survived; police say she opened fire as Foster drove past in a vehicle, striking the car several times, but Foster escaped injury.

Police said in court records that they recovered a gun from Braswell that day and found Facebook messages to Foster “referencing revenge and listing the date of the (homicide) that (Foster) and Braswell were co-defendants in.” Braswell was charged with attempted murder, shooting an occupied car, and another gun possession charge in June.

On June 24, Judge Elena Condes released Braswell without bail, writing in a court order that Braswell must stay on “house arrest” with a GPS monitoring device while she is out of custody. Her next court hearing has been set for October, records show.