Castro Valley man freed in controversial homicide case that was reduced from murder to involuntary manslaughter

OAKLAND — A Castro Valley man was freed from jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, the same day prosecutors moved to downgrade his charge from murder, court records show.

James Vega, 28, was originally charged with murder in the 2020 shooting of 28-year-old Jarin Purvis in Castro Valley. The case remained unchanged until last June, when District Attorney Pamela Price released a public statement announcing the charge was being re-filed as an involuntary manslaughter after determining the shooting was unintentional.

Vega entered a guilty plea on June 23, just seconds after prosecutors moved to re-file the case, and was released from jail by the end of the court’s hearing. On Sept. 18, he was formally sentenced to the maximum term of four years and eight months — a sentence that, with good behavior credits, Vega had already served in county jail. He remains out of jail.

Annie Beles, a local defense attorney who represented Vega, called the shooting an “absolute tragedy” but maintained that it was accidental.

“Mr. Vega hopes to re-enter society with safety and hope,” she said.

Purvis’ family maintains the shooting was not accidental, that Vega pointed a gun at Purvis and fired after Purvis told him to cut it out. After Vega’s guilty plea, members of Purvis’ family spoke out publicly against the deal and joined a growing effort to recall Price.

At the change-of-plea hearing, Deputy District Attorney Edward Vieira-Ducey said the decision to re-file the case was made under “vociferous opposition.” A member of Purvis’ family, who attended the hearing, said “we’d like to say on the record, the family does not agree with the charges from the DA’s office.”

In a public statement in June, Price said that other witnesses agreed Vega did not intend to shoot Purvis.

“His behavior was inexcusably negligent but this was an accident,” Price said. “While we deeply empathize with Mr. Purvis’ family and friends, James Joseph Vega should not, potentially, spend decades of his life behind bars for a tragic mistake.”