Oakland Resident Charged with Attempted Arson After Store Employees Allegedly Showed Video of Brother’s Killing

Marcus Freeman allegedly tried to burn down an Oakland store after employees showed customers a video of his brother being killed.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 28, 2026, 9:12 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from East Bay Times

A Violent Reaction to Perceived Disrespect

The 3000 block of San Pablo Avenue in Oakland has become the center of a volatile legal saga following the March 1 killing of 35-year-old Matthew Pierce. Just one day after the unsolved shooting, police allege that Pierce’s brother, Marcus Freeman, returned to the scene with a five-gallon canister of accelerant. According to court filings, Freeman attempted to torch the establishment on March 2 and again on March 9. The second attempt caused "significant" structural damage and occurred while an employee was present inside the building.

The Trigger: Exploitation of Tragedy

Investigators believe the arson attempts were a direct response to the behavior of the store’s staff. While employees reportedly refused to provide the official surveillance footage of the homicide to the Oakland Police Department, they allegedly began playing the video for customers. This local "show-off" of the fatal confrontation was interpreted by the victim’s family as a cruel exploitation of Pierce’s death. During the first arson attempt, a witness was reportedly heard on a recording pleading with Freeman to stop, stating that burning the building would "do nothing" to change the situation.

A History of Law Enforcement Scrutiny

The arson charges have brought renewed attention to Freeman’s past, including his status as a person of interest in the 2025 disappearance of 22-year-old Heaven McGee. McGee, who was believed to be a victim of human trafficking, vanished after a frantic call to police in which she named "Marcus Freeman" as an individual she was attempting to fight. While Freeman’s vehicle was tracked moving between Oakland and Stockton at the time of her disappearance, he was never charged in that case. Federal prosecutors are now moving to violate his supervised release from a prior hit-and-run conviction due to these new felony allegations.