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When questioned by police about whether he drove the Lexus used in the 2021 shooting, Steven Eubanks told officers that the vehicle belonged to his family member, who is accused of a mass shooting …
Police testified the Lexus allegedly used in Burton’s killing was registered to Williams’ mother. According to police, Williams’ mother, Burton’s mother, and Eubanks’ mother are all cousins. Adding to the familial confusion, on May 19, 2021, a man who had children with Eubanks’ mother was shot and wounded at the same location where Burton was gunned down.
. A detective testified at Eubanks’ preliminary hearing that they identified a suspect in the May 19 shooting, but would only say on the witness stand that the suspect was not Burton. The case against Eubanks is largely comprised of circumstantial evidence tying Eubanks to the Lexus, as well as an identification by an eyewitness who picked the preliminary hearing to claim, for the first time, that he recognized Eubanks as being inside the vehicle. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive for the killing. Judge Gregory Syren called the evidence “quite compelling” and ordered Eubanks to stand trial. A trial date has not yet been set. Eubanks’ attorney, Donald Lancaster, blasted the prosecution’s case as basically meaningless and asked that all charges be dismissed. “They haven’t established that anyone identified Mr. Eubanks,” Lancaster argued at the preliminary hearing. “They haven’t established that he held the gun. They haven’t established that he was at the scene of the crime. Not one scintilla of evidence links Mr. Eubanks to the crime.” Williams, meanwhile, is awaiting trial on a host of felony charges in Contra Costa that will guarantee him a life sentence if he’s convicted. It all started around 9 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2021, when Williams allegedly opened fire from a silver Chevrolet SUV at paramedics and firefighters responding to an emergency call at Auto Center Drive and Sycamore Drive in Antioch. A paramedic, aged 58, and a 31-year-old firefighter were both struck by gunfire but survived. Police chased the SUV into Richmond, where it crashed. Officers then arrested Williams when he tried to flee, according to authorities. The registered owner of the SUV turned out to be Michael Iliff, 64, who lived with a 31-year-old woman who had taken out a restraining order on Williams, court records show. When police checked on Iliff’s Discovery Bay residence, he was dead from gunshot wounds. The 31-year-old woman and her 4-year-old son were nowhere to be found. When Williams was interviewed, he allegedly admitted to shooting Iliff and stealing his car, and said the woman was inside when the homicide occurred.