Father loses child in Orinda Halloween shooting, one of three sons killed by gun violence
Father of Orinda shooting victim has lost 3 sons to gun violence
The father of one of the victims of the Orinda Halloween house-party shooting says he's lost three of his sons to gun violence. KTVU's Amber Lee spoke with Raymon Hill Sr., who said he just celebrated his birthday with his son, Raymon Hill Jr., 23, the day before Halloween.
The families of all the five young people shot and killed at the Halloween party in Orinda say they are devastated.
But when one set of parents lost their 23-year-old son that night, he became their third son to have died by gun violence.
“He was intelligent, smart, loving,” Ramon Hill Sr. said of his son, Raymon Hill Jr. “We had good conversations. He was enjoying life."
Father and son had celebrated Hill Sr.’s birthday the night before Hill Jr. was killed while attending an “Airbnb Mansion Party” on Lucille Way in the affluent city of Orinda.
Four other victims were also killed. They are: Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Javlin County, 29, of Sausalito and Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo and Hercules.
Moment of silence for Halloween shooting victims
No suspects are in custody, although the San Francisco Chronicle reported the shooting may have been prompted by an old gang rivalry.
Hill Sr. insisted his son was not in a gang, and would not have been the target of anyone’s ire.
Instead, Hill Sr. wants attention focused on police and why they didn’t respond any sooner to the neighbor’s complaints of noise.
“Why didn’t the police show up immediately?” Hill Sr. said. “It’s Halloween and it turns into a massacre.”
The recent killing comes just a year after Hill Sr’s youngest son, Raydale Hill, 17, a rap artist known as Heavy Baby, was killed in Oakland.
Five years earlier, Hill Sr.’s first son, Ja’Quan Morton, was shot to death in a triple shooting in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. He was 17.
Hill Sr. said all of his sons’ lives were taken too soon. As for his namesake, the father said that Hill Jr. was looking forward to being a father in the near future and had applied to work at various construction jobs.
He said he’s glad he got to see his son the day before he was killed.
“I’m going to cherish that,” he said.
KTVU's Lisa Fernandez contributed to this report.