Albany shooting orphaned boy, 7; GoFundMe now launched
Alonna Gallon, 24, was an "incredibly kind, caring, shy, and goofy young lady." She was killed in a domestic violence shooting, police say.
A 7-year-old boy was orphaned in last week's domestic violence shooting at a Toyota service center in Albany, his grandmother says.
In a new GoFundMe page, Yuvonda Gallon identified the woman who was killed Thursday as her daughter, 24-year-old Alonna Gallon.
Yuvonda Gallon identified the man who was then killed by police who responded to the emergency call as the boy's father.
Gallon wrote that Alonna recently made a "decision to distance herself" from the boy's father "due to his reckless behaviors."
The boy was identified as King Walker. On Sunday night, KTVU was the first to report on the GoFundMe effort.
Last week, a witness told The Berkeley Scanner that a man dropped off Starbucks for Gallon on Thursday morning and then returned 15 minutes later and shot her three times.
Read more about the Albany shooting on The Scanner.
Coworkers described her as a "nice girl who said hi to everybody."
"Alonna tried to the best of her individual abilities to create a healthy coparenting relationship with King's father but it unfortunately didn't stop him from brutally taking her life," Yuvonda Gallon wrote in the GoFundMe. "This tragedy leaves behind a child who will need not only the support of his close family, but of the community around him."
As of Monday morning, more than $8,000 had been raised.
Emilie Raguso
Gallon described her daughter as an "incredibly kind, caring, shy, and goofy young lady who had a lot of love to give and more life to live."
She wrote that any money raised would be used to help King fulfill his dreams, everything from college expenses and therapy to "extended enrichment programs" focused on football and basketball, his favorite sports.
"Alonna was the kind of mother who always put King's needs before her own and dreamed of a life where she'd send her son off to college and support him through his transitioning stages of life," according to the GoFundMe.
Alonna Gallon pledged to be "the best mother she could be to King from the very moment she found out she'd be a young mother," her mother wrote.
The Berkeley Scanner is attempting to reach the Gallon family to learn more.
Emilie Raguso
As of Monday, the name of the man who was killed Thursday had not been released.
The Alameda County coroner's office said there is still a press hold in place due to the ongoing investigation.
The man reportedly shot himself before police arrived and was still alive when officers got there.
Multiple investigations are now underway, into the homicide as well as the Berkeley police shooting that followed it.
The incident was Berkeley's first fatal police shooting since 2010. The Berkeley Scanner was the first news outlet to report the homicide.
