UPDATE: Nov. 28, 4:30pm: The Sheriff has released the name of the 20 year old victim, De’Shaun Davis. Ryan is currently being held on homicide charges with $1,000,000 bail. See the full update here, and here.
UKIAH — The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) relased a statement today providing information about the homicide that occured in Ukiah, yesterday, Nov. 21, 2016. The victim was 20 years old and described in the press release as a “transient.” In an email to The Mendocino Voice, Lt. Shannon Barney of the MCSO elaborated that the victim was a U.S. citizen, and a semi-local, who had been around for a year or so, and might also have had ties to Lake County.
According to the statement, yesterday morning, at around 11:20am sheriff’s dispatch recieved several calls of a shooting in the area just east of Ukiah and Hwy. 101, off of Perkins St. where the city gives way to vineyards. The suspect, Steve Ryan, called in himself to inform the sheriffs that he had shot a person near his home, claiming self-defense.
Officers from the MCSO, the Ukiah Police Department and an ambulance responded. They found a man dead in the drive way, with what appeared to be one or more gunshot wounds.
Ryan, who lives in a rental house on vineyard property, claimed that he and the victim had gotten into an argument, possibly over a trespass situation. The argument escalated, and Ryan fired multiple shots, allegedly striking the victim once or more with a large caliber round. Ryan claimed self-defense, however, detectives believed that the criteria for a justified or self-defense shooting may not have been met, and took Ryan into custody. He was booked on murder with his bond set at $500,000.
And autopsy on the victim will be preformed.
A couple of other notes:
The suspect has not yet appeared in the booking log, according to Barney he had not been booked as of this morning, but should appear in the log tomorrow.
The press release and the media log give different addresses for the incident, and the address in the press release seems to be close to the center of Ukiah. Barney explain that the actual location of the incident was off Perkins just past Oak Manor Dr. This is right where Perkins turns into Vichy Springs, and at the boundry between the city and unincorporated land, which is likely the cause of the discrepency between the log and release.
The following is the full text of the press release from the MCSO:
DATE: “November 22, 2016”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Incident Number: 16-36179
Crime/Incident: 187 PC [Murder]
Location: 220 Block of East Perkins Street, Ukiah CA
Date of Incident: 11-21-2016
Time: 11:20 AM
Victim(s): Adult Male, 20 years of age, Transient, Ukiah CA
Suspect(s): Steven Ryan, 62 years of age, Ukiah CA
Written By: Lieutenant Shannon Barney
Synopsis: On 11-21-2016 around 11:20 hours the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Dispatch received several calls of “shooting in the area” and one call from a male who identified himself as Steven Ryan. Ryan advised that he’d just shot a person near his residence in self defense. Officers from the Ukiah Police Department and Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies and ambulance personnel responded to the scene, located in the 220 Block of East Perkins Street in Ukiah. At that location a 20 year old male victim was located deceased in the driveway, from what appeared to be one or more gunshot wounds.
Steven Ryan was detained for questioning by responding Officers and the Sheriff’s Detective Unit was called to the scene. The location is a large rural property owned by a local vineyard with numerous rental houses and apartments on the property. During the investigation it was learned the Suspect Steven Ryan lives in one of the rental houses. Ryan and the victim got into in a verbal argument over a possible trespass situation after the victim was seen rummaging through a waste disposal bin on the property. Both parties may have approached each other where numerous shots were fired by Ryan with the victim being struck by one or more rounds from a large caliber handgun.
Ryan, who had initially been one of the callers to report the incident, claimed the shooting was in self defense. The investigation led Detectives to believe the shooting may not have met the criteria of a “justified or self defense” shooting. Ryan was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on an open charge of murder. His bail will be set at $500,000.
An autopsy is currently being scheduled to determine the exact cause of death and or the full extent of the victim’s injuries.
Approved by: Lieutenant Shannon Barney
The young man that was killed is my nephew dashawn Davis. He was born in ukiah and his mother lives in clearlake and has many family members in ukiah. Restvin peace nephew and may God be with you.your aunty Tonnetta Lowe-.Lark.
Sounds like murder to me. In order to claim self defense u have to be threatened or in danger and he was not. This innocent 20 year old has lost his life and i hope the shooter rots in prison. Justice for Deshaun.
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