Anatomy of a murder, capture, trial and conviction
The long process of bringing a killer to justice

by Melanie Donahue

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a complilation of several "Letters to the Editor" here at LACP from January 24, 2003, May 28, 2003, January 14, 2004 and Februalry 3, 2005, and is an issue we've tracked almost since LACP was established. The letters all deal with the senseless murder of Melanie Donahue's brother by a Venice gang member, and his identification, capture, trial and eventual conviction. LA Community Policing is happy it was able to provided Melanie and her family ongoing suggestions and support, and delighted her brother's killer was brought to justice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My youngest brother was shot and killed by a Venice Shoreline Crip

January 24, 2003

Dear Mr. Murray,

My name is Melanie Donahue and my family has resided in Venice, California for five generations.

On December 13, 2002, four days before my youngest brother's twenty-fifth birthday, he was shot by a Venice Shoreline Crip. Shaun Donahue worked as a carpenter for my father's company in Santa Monica. He loved the beach and tried to spend his days off walking along the boardwalk. On weekends he took care of our eighty eight year old grandfather and they would stay up late sitting on the back porch starring at the moon enjoying each other's conversations.

It was the simple things in life that made my brother happy.

Shaun and I worked together at an investment firm a couple of years ago and each morning we walked from the parking lot to our office building. One morning Shaun noticed a homeless man standing on the corner wrapped in a blanket. This homeless man had no shoes and his feet were covered in blisters. My brother told me to walk ahead and he would catch up with me in a moment.

I began to walk away, as I reached our building I saw Shaun talking to this man and pointing at his feet. My brother patted him on the shoulder and walked off.

That next morning as we exited the vehicle I saw Shaun reach into the back of his truck and grab a pair of Reebok tennis shoes. I asked what he was doing and he said that he got them for the homeless man with no shoes. He seemed so happy to be giving this man a gift that would help him so much.

I was so proud of my brother that day and wondered how he got such a huge heart and how special he really was.

Shaun was with a friend on December 13th. They had gone to a neighborhood sports bar to play a couple games of pool. At around 11:30pm they agreed that it was getting late and they should be heading home. The driver realized that his gas tank was almost empty so they decided to take a short cut through the Oakwood area of Venice.

As they drove down Indiana Avenue a couple of vehicles blocked their car in and a group of gang members began running towards their car. The driver tried to pull away -- but it was too late.

Shaun was shot in the back of the head and lay in a coma. My family was immediately notified. My father, James Donahue, was the first to arrive at the hospital. The doctor informed him that his son was not going to make it and that he had been placed on life support. My father, mother, sister and Shaun's identical twin brother, Shane and myself all met at the hospital to say goodbye to our baby boy -- the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.

We all gathered around Shaun, holding him, kissing his face and telling him how much we loved him. As I rubbed his forehead I told him not to be afraid to go and that he had been such a good boy. I pulled back from him and saw tears falling from his eyes. This devastated my family.

The spineless animal that killed my brother is hiding from the Police. The L.A. City Council has placed a $25,000.00 reward for the arrest and conviction of this ingrate. The Oakwood Community is afraid to speak up. If we all remain scared of these punks they will continue to rule our community and will continue to kill the innocent.

I am asking anyone if you know anything about my brother's murder please come forward and notify LAPD Pacific Division.

I also wanted to thank the man who comforted my brother as he lay in the car that night. I understand that you want to remain unknown and I respect the fact that you cared enough to help until help arrived. Thank you.

Don't let this happen to another family. Gang violence needs to stop...

Melanie Donahue
Venice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update to my letter of Jan 24 - We know who killed my brother

May 28, 2003

Hello,

I wrote a letter back on January 24, 2003, regarding my 24 year old brother, Shaun Donahue, who was killed by a Venice gang member.

I wanted to update your readers.

The person who killed my brother is Charles Edward Yates. He is eighteen years old. The police was close to capturing him a few days ago but somehow he managed to escape. You can find his picture and profile on lapdonline.com under the most wanted list.

My father, James J. Donahue was interviewed by Los Angeles Most Wanted today and channel 11 (Fox) will be broadcasting my brother's case this Saturday night (May 31st) after Americas Most Wanted.

If you could take a moment to possibly tune in, maybe you can help the LAPD catch this murderer and bring justice to my family. There is a $25, 000 reward.

Thank you...

Melanie Donahue
Venice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update to my letters of Jan 24, 2003 and May 28, 2003 - my brother's killer

January 14, 2004

Hi Bill ...

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote to you...

In November I went to the first trial hearing of Charles E. Yates. It was horrible to see the guy who killed my brother but I stayed strong. His sister showed up and threw me horrible looks like I did something wrong to her and her brother ... it was upsetting.

The judge found enough evidence to proceed and there will be a few more hearings before the actual trial which will probably be in June or July. His bail was set for 2 million dollars so he won't be going anywhere. I found a website www.LASD.org that has inmate information. I track what is going on with him since the detective on the case is slow on getting info to me.

I will keep you updated on the progress ...

Take care,

Melanie Donahue
Venice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update on Shaun Donahue Murder Trial - about my brother's killer

February 3, 2005

Dear Bill,

Well it has been a long haul and at the end of the road we found justice for our beloved Shaun Joseph Donahue on January 28, 2005. Charles Edward Yates was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, murder with a fire arm and gang affiliation.

His sentence is as follows:

Attempted Murder - 37 to life
2nd Degree Murder - 40 to life
Murder by Fire Arm - 25 to life
Gang Affiliation - 7 years

He'll not be able to seek parole until he is about 90 years old.

Yates was found guilty of being a Venice Shoreline Crip. A special gang unit officer brought in photos during the trial of the defendant with his gang friends flashing hand signs while dressed in their gang attire. It really made an impact on the jury.

Yates wouldn't take the stand and no witnesses came forward to pick out other gang members who were present at the time of the murder unfortunately. I just hope that this shakes up the Oakwood area and hopefully these gangs now will be aware that there are consequences to the crimes they commit.

My family is very pleased with the verdict, although we would have preferred murder in the 1st instead of 2nd Degree Murder.

The trial was long and very emotional something that I don't wish my family to ever encounter again. The District Attorney was amazing and exceedingly professional. We couldn't have wished for someone greater. I could never thank this man enough for the time and hard work devoted to this case for my little brother.

I wanted to give you this update so you can post it and let the community know to have faith in our Judicial System.

Thank you for your support and take care ...

Melanie Donahue
Venice