San Diego, CA–The San Diego County District Attorney Wednesday filed felony charges against a gang member in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman as she sat in a parked car with her family in Spring Valley in April.
Jammerieo Austin, 26, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, shooting at an inhabited vehicle, and two counts of being a felon in possession of a gun.
San Diego resident Karmen Dionne Anderson, 40, was shot in a car parked outside a liquor store on Bancroft and Golf drives in Spring Valley at about 11:30 p.m. on April 24. Anderson was in the car with her husband, who was in the driver’s seat, and a 4-year-old child in the backseat when the shooting started. Anderson, who also went by Karmen Hicks, was the only person hit by gunfire. She was treated at a hospital for multiple gunshots wounds but died two days later.
In open court today, the prosecutor said the shooting was gang-motivated and Austin used an AK-47 to shoot 13 rounds into the car, causing it to burst into flames with the 4-year-old momentarily trapped inside the car.
Prosecutors say surveillance footage showed the defendant’s car following the victims’ car with its headlights off just prior to the murder. Austin ambushed the would-be victim when he stopped his car at a liquor store. The defendant’s car drove back and forth several times waiting for their intended target to emerge from the store. As soon as he did, the defendant opened fire. Investigators also located a photograph taken the day of the murder, which showed the defendant posing with fellow gang members, one of whom was holding an AK-47, which is believed to be the weapon used in this murder.
The charges come as law enforcement officials are reporting a troubling increase in gang-related crime and the proliferation of ‘ghost guns’– firearms that are assembled by hand and are usually untraceable. According to the District Attorney’s Office, most of the criminal cases it files involving ghost guns are gang-related. Since 2019, the DA’s Gangs Division has charged cases involving over 100 ghost guns. At the same time, gang-related cases submitted to the DA’s Office by law enforcement countywide are up 25% from the same time last year
A readiness hearing for Austin has been scheduled for August 5.
The investigation into this murder is ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330, after hours at (858) 565-5200. You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
