Man takes plea deal, sentenced to prison for death of well-known Oakland baker

Friend of baker Jen Angel brutally attacked during Berkeley robbery

Police in Berkeley said a woman was violently attacked during a robbery in Berkeley Sunday. The victim was reportedly headed to a memorial for Jen Angel who was killed in a separate robbery in Oakland a few months ago.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The man charged in the death of the baker behind Oakland's Angel Cakes has been sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter and robbery.

Ishmael Burch, 20, of San Francisco, was initially charged by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office with murder in this case. He accepted a plea deal and was sentenced on Friday.

Angel Cakes owner, Jen Angel, was sitting in her car in a bank parking lot in downtown Oakland in February 2023 when Burch broke in and grabbed her purse. Angel tried to get her belongings back, but was dragged by Burch's car and hit her head on the pavement.

Angel was on life support before she died from her injuries the week of the robbery.

Burch was arrested four months after the crime. Detectives identified him as the driver of the car that dragged Angel, as well as the suspect in a second robbery nearby on that same day.

Angel's loved ones released a statement saying she believed in restorative justice. They added, "We also believe that the sentencing recommended by the D.A. in this plea deal was the best possible outcome under the current legal system, in this political climate. We know that Jen would not want someone involved in her death, whether complicit or not, to waste away in prison for decades, and we take some comfort in knowing Ishmael has a chance to repair some of the harm he has caused."

Angel founded Angel Cakes, a popular community-based bakery on 5th Street in 2008.

Her legacy lives on through The Jen Angel Anarchist Media grant, a grant that makes anarchist ideas accessible through the media.

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