Marcel Dupree Jones, a 37-year-old Black father of three, was killed inside the Ursula Sherman Village shelter in Berkeley on the evening of August 25, 2024. Jones was living at the shelter and was one week away from graduating from a pre-apprenticeship construction trades program; the nonprofit running the program described him as focused, skilled, dedicated, and kind and had given him an award for strength, endurance, and leadership.

Jones and his bunkmate, Mark Christopher Dowling, had a history of conflict. After an argument earlier that evening about loud music, witnesses say Dowling later returned to the shared room, retrieved a gun from his car, and shot Jones multiple times in the chest, back, and abdomen. Officers performed life-saving measures but Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses and surveillance footage led investigators to Dowling. One witness said Dowling crawled out a window after the shooting; police located him the next morning sleeping in his Lexus two blocks from the shelter and arrested him. A search of the vehicle reportedly turned up several firearms and ammunition matching casings from the scene, and prosecutors added a hate crime allegation based on witnesses who said Dowling had made derogatory racial remarks and threats toward Black residents.

If anyone knew Marcel, his movements that night, or saw what happened at the shelter, please share information with the Berkeley Police Department.